Erem – The announcement by the Supreme Council of State in Libya to reopen the file of sovereign positions with Parliament raised a number of questions among the political class due to its timing, even though the target was the Governor of the Central Bank, in a clash with the priority of the House of Representatives, which calls for the formation of a new government.
The “old and new” controversy has been renewed in Libya, since the State Council’s Media Office announced the re-establishment of communication with the House of Representatives to complete the procedures for unifying the oversight bodies.
What is meant by sovereign positions is the presidency of the governor of the Central Bank, the president and members of the High Elections Commission, the president of the Supreme Court, the position of the Attorney General and the Audit Bureau, the head of the Administrative Oversight Authority, and the head of the Anti-Corruption Commission.
However, the positions of the last three bodies have not been decided, in addition to the governor of the Central Bank of Libya, who has been held by Al-Siddiq Al-Kabeer for 12 years, and his change also requires international consensus, as he is supported externally.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, and the former President of the Supreme Council of State, Khaled Al-Mishri, agreed in October 2022 in Bouznika, Morocco, for a person from the western region to assume the presidency of the Audit Bureau, with the head of administrative oversight being from the eastern region.
Members of the State Council and the House of Representatives question the timing of raising the sensitive issue, which could reshuffle the cards, at a time when the Libyan parliament is looking to form a unified government to oversee the holding of elections, in a goal that intersects with the efforts of the UN mission to end the governmental division.
A new unified government
Libyan Member of Parliament Abdel Salam Nasya was surprised that the State Council had kept these lists in the drawer since 2022 and today it is taking them back, after expressing its rejection of the step.
Speaking to “Erem News”, Nassiya believes that the first step is to unify the executive authority through a new, unified government with specific tasks and a budget, to supervise the presidential and parliamentary elections and end the transitional stages.
Article 15 of the 2015 political agreement (Skhirat Agreement) stipulated consensus regarding the governor of the Central Bank, the head of the Audit Bureau, the head of the Administrative Oversight Authority, the head of the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the head and members of the High National Elections Commission. As for the agents and other positions, they are the right of the House of Representatives only. Parliament refuses to give up what it considers a “legal and political right.”
The Libyan MP called on the Chairman of the State Council, Mohamed Takala, to work seriously to implement the roadmap approved by the 6+6 Joint Committee regarding the unification of the executive authority, and then the sovereign positions can be unified.
For his part, Libyan political researcher Hossam al-Din al-Abdali confirmed that the dispute over sovereign positions has been going on for years. It began during the days of political division during the era of Abdullah al-Thani’s government in eastern Libya, and the Government of National Accord headed by al-Sarraj in its west. At that time, a division occurred in all state institutions.
The most important sovereign positions
Al-Abdeli told “Erem News” that one of the most important of these sovereign positions is the position of Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, which is currently headed by Al-Siddiq Al-Kabeer. Since the fall of the regime in 2011, he has held this sensitive position, but despite the division, the Libyan parties were unable to overthrow him due to international support for him from several important countries.
The Libyan analyst attributed the reason to the international community and the United Nations mission’s unwillingness to see another person assume the position, for fear that the money would reach the hands of new, unreliable faces, which would lead to the draining of public funds in a country that is politically and security-wise unstable.
Al-Abdali revealed disagreements in the recent period between the Prime Minister of the National Unity Government, Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, and the Governor of the Central Bank.
#Controversy #sovereign #positions #Libya
2024-06-28 00:34:39