Eighty-six members of the House of Representatives (HoR) announced in a joint statement today that they had been barred from entering the HoR’s official Benghazi headquarters to hold their parliamentary session—despite having met the legal quorum required to convene—following instructions issued by the House leadership.
In the statement, the MPs reported that after eight months of being prevented from holding a session to discuss reforming the House and amending its internal regulations, they had finally secured the necessary quorum today, only to be denied entry to the premises.
The MPs affirmed in their statement that they would continue their parliamentary efforts to achieve "desired reform" and ensure respect for the House’s regulations and the will of its members. They emphasized that this obstruction would not prevent them from convening, stating that they would hold their meetings elsewhere—in any Libyan city where they could exercise their duties.
The statement also denied that this movement aimed to disrupt any existing political or electoral process—including the "4+4" track, which they had previously endorsed—clarifying that their objective was focused exclusively on reforming the House's operations and enabling members to perform their duties in accordance with established rules.
The members concluded their statement by announcing that their next meeting would be based on Article 137 of the House’s internal regulations to take the necessary measures, holding the House leadership fully responsible for any escalatory steps that might arise from this situation.
Ageela Saleh domination of the HoR
It will be recalled, and as stated by in the 86-member statement, HoR Speaker Ageela Saleh has prevented the House from convening a quorate session for about eight months – despite numerous requests.
Over several years now, Saleh has been increasingly running the House as his personal fiefdom, ignoring internal regulations and the need for a quorum. This had reached a stage that most members had concluded that it was time to replace Saleh as the Speaker. It is this fear of being replaced that has led Saleh to avoid and prevent a quorate meeting taking place.
Currently, with deaths, boycotts and suspensions, 86 or 87 is widely believed to be the number needed to achieve a quorum.
It will also be recalled that Speaker Saleh held an official session last Monday (14 September) to approve the UNSMIL-brokered ‘‘4+4 Committee Agreement’’. Sixty-eight HoR members boycotted the session. Official HoR photos indicated that no more than 30-40 members were present.
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