By Sami Zaptia.
London, 5 March 2019:
Acting in his role as Supreme Commander of the (Tripoli-based) Libyan Army, Faiez Serraj, head of the Presidential Council and Government of National Accord, yesterday demoted his former Chief of Staff Abdelrahman al-Taweel from the rank of Brigadier General to Brigadier and terminated his military service.
The move comes following statements made by the latter rejecting Serraj’s decision to dismiss him as Chief of Staff.
It is believed that this dismissal as Chief of Staff came after Taweel welcomed the Khalifa-Hafter-led Libyan National Army (LNA) operation in the south of Libya.
It is not clear if Serraj objected to the actual LNA operations in the south or that he objected to Taweel publicly welcoming them without clearance from his Supreme Commander. It is believed that Serraj was pressured into sacking Taweel by others who objected to the public support given to Hafter.
Unperturbed, since his dismissal and demotion, Taweel has been reported by Libyan media to have rejected Serraj’s actions on the ground that they conflict with the Skhirat 2015 Libyan Political Agreement (LPA).
The LPA stipulates that Presidency Council decisions must be taken unanimously by all its members.
Taweel is taking advantage of the fact that the Presidency Council is very much split and weak, which weakens Serraj’s hand.
It also says all major sovereign positions are to be appointed in agreement by both the House of Representatives (HoR) and the High State Council (HSC). Again, Taweel is exploiting Libya’s polarized politics and the division between the HoR and HSC.
It is not clear if Taweel’s tactics will work. It all depends on his popularity, on how much support he receives from political streams, cities, tribes and militias. If the international community think thst Serraj’s decision-making process was sound, it is very unlikely that they will continue to recognize Taweel. By no longer meeting Taweel and meeting his successor within Libya and abroad, they can help make Serraj’s de jure appointment de facto.
It will be recalled that Serraj passed two decrees, dated 5 Februay but published on 14 February this year, appointing General Mohammed al-Shareef as Chief of Staff replacing Abdul Rahman al-Taweel, and appointed Maj. Gen. Salim Juha as his assistant.
Serraj had also appointed Ali Kana as the Southern Military Region Commander The previous week.
https://www.libyaherald.com/2019/02/15/serraj-appoints-shareef-as-new-chief-of-staff-and-juha-as-his-assisstant/
