After the confirmation by the Presidency of the House of Representatives (and not the HoR in session) of Saddek El-Kaber as the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) last Friday (16 August), the Presidential Council announced yesterday that it has taken a unanimous decision to elect a new Governor of the CBL and the formation of a new Board of Directors within the House of Representatives Resolution No. 3/2018.
The Presidency Council confirmed in a press statement that the decision was taken unanimously by all its three members, within the framework of assuming its national responsibility to preserve the country’s capabilities and prevent it from being exposed to any damage.
It said these changes come to enhance the ability of the CBL to carry out its tasks efficiently and effectively in a way that ensures the continuity of the provision of financial services and economic stability
It added that negotiations will be launched to ensure a peaceful transition between high-end national competencies that have made strenuous efforts for many years.
The High State Council responds
In response, the High State Council said the decision was worthless as it is an infringement on the competencies of the legislative authorities (the HoR and the HSC) according to the Constitutional Declaration. It confirmed that in its view Saddek El-Kaber is still the Governor of the CBL.
Analysis
The various effective Libyan political agreements prescribe that such decisions should be agreed consensually between the HoR and the HSC – but do not include the Presidency Council as part of the legislative arm.
However, the Presidency Council is attempting to force its choice of CBL Governor through an existing HoR law removing El-Kaber and appointing a replacement.
There is also a view that the Tripoli based government wants to spend more but CBL Governor El-Kaber is preventing this.
Ultimately, these political gestures are part of the ongoing power struggle between the various political entities whose terms of office have long expired. Ageela Saleh and Khalifa Hafter are attempting to remove the Tripoli based government and replace it with a more favourable government to oversee the elections.
However, in reality, all these entities are simply paying lip service to elections but at the same time putting obstacles in front of their realisation.
Ageela Saleh and Khalifa Hafter have drafted an election law that if they lost in their election bids they would still remain in power. The Tripoli based prime minister, Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba is refusing to allow elections unless Ageela Saleh and Khalifa Hafter leave the political scene.
Libya remains in political limbo
All this means that Libya remains in political limbo. It remains in its transition state with weak executives and legislatures unable to make radical decisions to move the country forward from its current political, security and economic quagmire.
