By Sami Zaptia.
London, 13 July 2021:
The Constitutional basis for the 24 December 2021 elections
The Presidency Council (PC) said it hoped that the House of Representatives (HoR) and the High State Council (HSC) will agree on of one of the proposals for the constitutional basis to hold the 24 December 2021 elections on time.
The statement came through the Presidency Council’s Spokesperson Najwa Wheba during a press conference held in Tripoli yesterday.
Wheba stressed that the HSC and the HoR are the two bodies authorized to issue a constitutional rule, and therefore the PC hopes that they will agree on one quickly.
Responding to media questions about Deputy PC head Musa Al-Koni’s proposal on BBC Arabic that the PC could issue a constitutional rule to hold elections if all the other bodies fail to do so, Wheba said this was a last option.
Wheba said the PC prefers that the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum handle the constitutional rule file in accordance with the UN Road Map.
Central Bank of Libya Audit Report
On the independent audit report of the Central Libyan Bank (CBL), Wheba said that both CBL Governor El-Kaber and his Deputy Hibri responded well to the report, expressing their readiness to act on its observations, and their agreement to hold meetings for the entire management of the bank.
Reopening the Coastal Road
On the delayed reopening of the Coastal Road Wheba said the PC was clear that when ordering the reopening of the Coastal Road that the arrangements for implementing this order are in the hands of the 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission.
Appointment of Defence Minister and his Deputies
On the controversial issue of appointing the Defence Minister and his Deputies, Wheba said that the PC had called the Prime Minister to a meeting to appoint a consensual figure for the Ministry of Defence, and a proposal was put forward to appoint the Deputy Defence Ministers before the Defence Minister was appointed. She said the consultations are continuing.
She said the PC is insisting on appointing a Minister of Defence as soon as possible because this is part of its efforts to unify the military institution.
PC cancels divisive Foreign Ministry appointments of embassy advisors
Wheba announced that the PC had issued a decision on Monday to cancel the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to appoint advisers in embassies, in order to preserve national unity and the professional bases for appointment to such positions.
