The Head of the Libyan High Council of State (HCS), Khalid Al-Mishri, has revealed that the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdul Hamid Dbeibah is the only PM he has seen in his political time span who has come to power to stay for a long period.
Speaking to Libya Alahrar TV Channel’s “Hiwar Al-Layla” program on Sunday, Al-Mishri said Dbeibah is leading by nepotism as footage of his visits abroad as Libyan PM show members of his family with him in official meetings, adding that Dbeibah has told him that he is ruling out the possibility of holding elections.
Al-Mishri also said that Dbeibah’s government is corrupted and is ruling with the family-reign style, which is completely rejected in Libya. He went on to say that, likewise, the rule of the military is rejected in Libya, explaining that the constitutional track for elections isn’t complete yet because of the condition that says dual nationals and military leaders aren’t allowed to run for presidential elections.
“The HCS and the House of Representatives (HoR) are in agreement about all of the articles of the constitutional basis for presidential elections, except for allowing military officers to run for elections. Military leaders or officers should resign years before running for president of Libya.” Al-Mishri remarked.
He reiterated that when Khalifa Haftar tried to seize power by military force, he was defeated and he would never think to repeat such an aggression.
Speaking about Fathi Bashagha’s government that is appointed by the HoR, Al-Mishri said Bashagha was mistaken to strike an alliance with Haftar and to sit with Egyptian officials to make agreements in a unilateral manner without a prior consensus with the rest of the involved parties.
Referring to the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) that was held in Geneva and resulted in the formation of the Dbeibah government, Al-Mishri said Dbeibah used power to the fullest for his benefit and Bashagha, who lost in the LPDF process didn’t take it lightly.
He also said that regarding accusations against him that he wanted to stay in power for a long time, he would be ready for any investigation into any financial, administrative or ethical violations on the condition that if he was found innocent, the ones who accused him must be punished.
Al-Mishri talked about the state sovereign positions, saying that changing their incumbents without changing the government aimed at empowering Bashagha’s government, which Al-Mishri rejected in his meeting with HoR Speaker Aqila Saleh in Morocco last Friday. He said that Dbeibah would have agreed on the changing of sovereign positions’ incumbents if it had meant keeping his GNU in place.
Speaking about the changing of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the appointment of Farhat Bengdara as the new Chairman, Al-Mishri said the deal to appoint Bengdara was dubious as Haftar’s son Saddam and Dbeibah’s cousin Ibrahim held a meeting in Abu Dhabi and agreed on the deal without any official capacity.
“Dbeibah told me that Haftar’s General Command selected Bengdara for the NOC Chairman’s position. He said Bengdara was the best choice among the three nominated persons.” Al-Mishri told Libya Alahrar TV.
