Libya’s parliamentary leaders are queuing up to distance themselves from the newly introduced and extremely unpopular import tax.
The Speaker of Libya’s House of Representatives (HoR) – parliament – Ageela Saleh, yesterday denied responsibility for passing the new controversial tax imposed on some imported goods.
Saleh stated that the new tax law was approved in an HoR session held on Tuesday, 13 January 2026, chaired by the First Deputy Speaker Fawzi Al-Nuwairi. He noted that he was not present when the decision was presented.
In a later correctional statement, Saleh amended his initial statement to say that the 13 January HoR session was in fact chaired by the Second Deputy Speaker Musbah Doma. This came after Al-Nuwairi had issued a counterstatement in the same day also denying he had chaired the dreaded tax-passing HoR session.
Moreover, Saleh claimed in his statement that he had asked the Central Bank of Libya Governor, Naji Issa, to suspend the new tax until it was presented again to Parliament for a decision.
“Immediately after the decision was issued, I emphasized the need to suspend the tax on essential consumer goods and spare citizens any resulting burdens. I instructed the Governor to adhere to this until the matter is presented again to the House for a final decision, after consulting with experts in economics, accounting, and finance, to ensure the decision is in the best interest of the nation and its citizens.”, Saleh said.
Saleh, referring to yesterday’s statement by about 50 MPs demanding the tax’s cancellation, said it was the same MPs who are now asking for its cancellation that had initially approved it.
He said it is not a flaw to admit that their previous decision was not in the best interest of the nation and its citizens, but they must bear the responsibility.
He added that he was personally not clinging to the tax and the final decision rests with the House, after consultation with specialists in economics, finance, and accounting.
Saleh concluded by saying that the final decision rests with Parliament, not with political and media posturing.
Comment
It is hard to believe that any HoR session could be held, or any law could be passed, by the HoR without Ageela Saleh’s, and Hafter’s – full and prior approval. If Saleh disapproved of the new tax law, he would have stopped it dead in its tracks.
The ultimate proof that the HoR cannot act without Saleh’s approval is that Saleh is still the HoR Speaker. If the HoR could indeed act independently Saleh would have been ousted as Speaker long ago and Hafter’s omnipotence would have at least been challenged.
The reality is that Saleh underestimated the suffering of the ordinary Libyan citizen, the degree of the depreciation of the value of the Libyan dinar, the degree to which inflation and prices have risen and the fall in Libyans’ standards of living. He underestimated the degree of the tax’s unpopularity as manifested in the demonstrations in several western Libyan cities.
Having found himself on the wrong side of popular sentiment, Saleh is now frantically backtracking and deflecting blame from the new tax law onto others.
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