HoR unofficial meeting proposes a new reform Roadmap to elect new leadership and amend internal regulations

About 40 members of the House of Representatives (HoR) held an unofficial meeting at the HoR’s Benghazi headquarters yesterday after which they declared in a video clip posted on social media a new Roadmap to reform the operations of the HoR. The new roadmap entails:

– Immediate action to amend the HoR’s internal regulations to elect the HoR’s Presidency according to a parliamentary cycle to be determined by the HoR, with specific dates.

– The re-election of the House’s standing (specialized) committees.

– The call for an official HoR session with a quorum on 30^th March to immediately begin implementing the roadmap for reforming the work of the HoR.

– Conducting comprehensive reforms to the internal regulations. The items outlined in this roadmap constitute the agenda for the session.

Analysis
‎It will be recalled that this is the second ‘‘consultative session’’ to be held by members of the HoR with the notable absence of HoR Speaker, Ageela Saleh, and his Deputies, Fawzi al-Nweri and Misbah Douma.‎

‎Ascertaining from various social and media comments by some members who participated in yesterday’s unofficial session, the session represents preparation for the launch of the what they implied is the next phase that establishes a new era in the policies and decisions of the HoR.

The implication here is the opposition to and frustration with the current HoR leadership, headed by Ageela Saleh, ‎with its unilateral and almost dictatorial running of the HoR. Specifically, a large number of members are frustrated by Saleh’s unilateral power to determine the dates to hold official HoR sessions and in setting these sessions’ agenda.

‎This opposition and frustration was crystalised in the recent fiasco of the illegal introduction of the new import tax decision clandestinely concocted by Ageela Saleh and the CBL Governor Naji Issa. The new tax law was never debated or voted on during an HoR session.

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