French website, Africa Intelligence, said plans for a new Libyan government drawn up by House of Representatives’ (HoR) Speaker Aqila Salah and Head of the High Council of State (HCS) Khalid Al-Mishri promise political upheaval in Tripoli.
The HoR-designated Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha, the website said, appears to be definitively out of the picture, while the Government of National Unity’s (GNU) Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah faces increasing isolation on the domestic political scene.
The website said that now, all odds are against Bashagha and “his star has somehow faded after several failures to take the capital by force.” It adds that Bashagha’s position is now directly threatened by plans for a new government drawn up by Saleh and Al-Mishri.
“There were rumors, relayed by former Libyan MP Mahmoud Abdelaziz, that a plan was in place for Al-Mishri to take the leadership of the new government, while Salah would remain in office and Khalifa Haftar would become president.
But these rumors were dismissed by Al-Mishri himself, while both him and Saleh’s plan does indeed entail the appointment of a new government tasked with organizing long-awaited elections, but above all with the replacement by the end of 2023 of Central Bank of Libya (CBL) governor Al-Siddiq Al-Kabir who is considered too close to Dbeibah.
The composition of this future government has not been decided, but the plan does not include any ministerial post for Bashagha.
“In Bashagha’s home town Misrata, where he was a key figure after the revolution that ousted Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, his alliance with Haftar has not been forgotten or forgiven. Only Salem Juha, who once headed the city’s military council but who is also marginalized after having supported Haftar since 2014, continues to back him.” The website said.
Salah then went to Bouznika in Morocco along with his rival Al-Mishri. The idea this time was to set up a government endorsed by the international community. They are reportedly considering a figure from Misrata to head it, the website added.
