Libya’s House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to suspend Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha from his duties and to refer him for investigation. Finance Minister Osama Hammad was appointed to head the government along with the finance ministry.
This came, according to the official Facebook page of parliamentary spokesman Abdallah Belihaq.
Pashaga was appointed to the post by parliament last year, but was unable to enter the capital Tripoli to take over from the outgoing head of the national unity government, Abdelhamid Dabiba, who refused to appoint Bashagha.
Earlier on Tuesday, Pashaga announced in a message to the House of Representatives that he had tasked his deputy Ali Faraj al-Qatrani with running the functions of the Council of Ministers and delegated full powers to the Prime Minister.
Gabriel Ouhida, a member of the House of Representatives, said that raising the issue of removing Pashagha from his post on the agenda of the House of Representatives “surprised a number of members.
He said Pashagha “does not have any arms to carry out his duties”, adding that there is a trend within the council to form a miniature government tasked with holding elections.
Ouhida stated that Bashagha “could not take over from Tripoli to reach the elections, and he should have apologized to the House of Representatives ever since.
He said Pashagha “dealt with the budget that was approved by the Council of Representatives in a balanced manner, spent its extrabudgetary items under the emergency law, and spent money about which we did not know anything. When we tried to discuss the matter, we did not reach anything,” he said.
On the other hand, the Libyan Supreme Council accused the national unity government headed by Abdel Hamid Al Dubaiba, and the dismissed from the parliament, of going against the roadmap drawn for it at the Libyan dialog meeting in Geneva, and accused it of committing violations by concluding long-term agreements, demanding to hold it accountable.
In a statement issued after a meeting chaired by Khalid al-Mishri in the capital Tripoli to discuss the latest political, security and economic developments in the country, the council said, “The government (of national unity led by al-Dubaiba) has not undergone any accountability or hearing sessions, and has circumvented the legislative powers of existing councils…He added, “The government of Al-Dabiba has concluded long-term agreements binding on the state, contrary to the road map, and has not implemented the preparatory procedures for the elections, especially with regard to the cleaning of the civil register and the national number.
