By Sami Zaptia.
London, 10 June 2016:
The two Deputy House of Representatives (HoR) presidents, Emhemed Shouaib and Ehmeed Homa have warned HoR . . .[restrict]president Ageela Saleh that they hold him responsible if HoR members are prevented from holding a session in Tobruk next Monday. They also held him responsible for the previous failures.
Their statement came in response to Ageela Saleh’s call yesterday for the HoR to meet in Tobruk next Monday in order to vote on Faiez Serraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) and to pass a constitutional amendment.
Saleh had also preconditioned that all Presidency Council members be present at the HoR vote in Tobruk. However, many Presidency Council members are seen as enemies (‘’Islamist/Brotherhood/militia supporters’’) by some Federalist and eastern HoR members and feel uncomfortable and insecure about visiting Tobruk. It will be recalled that Misrata HoR member Mohamed Raied was kidnapped when he visited Tobruk in January this year.
The condemnation of Saleh by his two Deputies came in a written statement a copy of which was sent to Libya Herald late last night.
‘‘In our desire to get the HoR out of its current political stalemate, which is a stalemate of the political and peaceful process, we wish to remind you of the attempt by the majority of HoR members to hold a session in the HoR’s temporary location in Tobruk’’, the statement said.
They reminded Saleh of ‘‘the verbal and material use of force they experienced which took place in your full view and hearing and in full view of all and without any condemnation or sympathy by you with the majority of HoR members who attended the previous sessions’’.
The two Deputy HoR presidents reminded Salah of their joint meeting in Cairo and visit to his home in Gubba (250 km from Benghazi) ‘‘in an effort to get passed the crises’’. The aim of those meetings was ‘’to extricate the HoR from its crises. To this end, it is clear that the description of most members as absentees is a repetition of the same message as it ignores the fact that this absenteeism is as a result of the use of force ‘’
They claim that Saleh has used this absenteeism as a political stance saying it ‘’has given birth to a legal and political position’’.
‘‘We confirm our desire in holding a session in Tobruk’’, they added ‘’but we do not desire nor accept the repetition of the same previous situations. Have the positions and affairs indeed matured?’’ (since the last attempted meeting), they ask rhetorically.
They then go on to say that ‘’if this (call to hold a session) is an honest call, we call upon you to issue an assurance in your desire to preside over a calm and safe session so that members are able to practice their constitutional right in expressing their desires and positions’’.
‘’For this to happen, we hold you responsible for the failure of the HoR to hold its sessions and we hold you responsible for what emanates politically from the failure to hold sessions that negatively affect the nation and citizens’’.
On another note, the two Deputy presidents say that Ageela Saleh’s sacking of former HoR official spokesman Faraj Buhashem and replacing him with Abdullah Bulaihak was illegal.
Procedurally, they say that the official spokesman was elected by the HoR and should therefore be replaced by the HoR.
No reason had been given by Saleh as to why he had dismissed Buhashem. However, it is believed to be because Buhashem was one of the 100 HoR members who had signed a petition calling for the Government of National Unity led by Faiez Serraj to be formally appointed by parliament as the government.
Ageela Saleh and his supporters, while approving in principle the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA), are opposed to article 8 of the LPA that would take away Hafter’s position as effective head of the Libyan National Army. They are also against the use of militias in Tripoli to prop up the GNA. They had expected the LPA to lead to the formation of a non-tribal/regional/militia-based army.
It is worth remembering that Ageela Saleh has been sanctioned by the US and the EU for blocking an HoR vote on the GNA. [/restrict]
