Another meeting of HoR fails to vote confidence in Libyan Government of National Accord

Libyan House of  Representatives

A meeting of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) was scheduled to take place today, the 13th of June.  The two Deputy HoR presidents, Emhamed Shouaib and Ehmeed Homa have warned the president and speaker of the HoR, Ageela Salah, that they would hold him responsible if members are not allowed to freely vote and held him responsible for previous failures.

There have been several meetings with no quorum and two that were disrupted with no vote being taken. Ageela Salah is already sanctioned by the EU for impeding the process of implementing the terms of the Libya Political Agreement (LPA)

The HoR needs to endorse the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) and also to amend the constitutional declaration to include the GNA. Salah urged the HoR members to attend the meeting today. Salah is reported to have said: “All members who fail to attend the meeting will bear the national and moral responsibility of their actions because all must prioritize Libya’s interests to every other thing in the world.”

The meeting was not held because there was not a quorum. As a recent tweet describes the situation: "No HoR session today due to the lack of quorum. Around 70 members & Agilah Saleh were present. Saleh's two deputies were not there. "  Those two deputies who blame Saleh for the lack of a vote, fail to show up along with others making a vote impossible. Yet it is Saleh who was there plus 70 others.

The Libya Observer also reported on the failure reported by HoR member Saleh Fahima. Fahima said that HoR speaker Ageela Salah came to the meeting but when he saw that there were only 70 members who had showed up, he saw that there was no quorum and left.

Even if there is a vote, those in favor of the GNA want a section of the agreement deleted that gives the role of commander in chief of the GNA army to the Presidential Council. They want Haftar to remain as commander in chief of the army.

The agreement must be voted on as is and cannot be amended.  The Special Representative of the Secretary General(SRSG), Martin Kobler wants the vote so the GNA will have a legislature.

The HoR is the legislature of the GNA. It is not clear what Kobler can do now there has again been no vote.

Some members of HoR meet with Presidential Council of GNA

Deputy Presidents Emhemed Shouaib and Ehmeed Homa headed a House of Representatives (HoR) delegation that met with PM of the GNA Faiez Serraj and the Presidency Council (PC) of the Government of National Accord (GNA).

The HoR members were from the south. The Presidential Council (PC) said the meeting was organized in a bid to find a mechanism that would achieve "a high level of national consensus" and a "means of enabling the HoR in its role as the legislative authority" of Libya. Presumably this means the legislative authority of the Government of National Accord (GNA), as required by the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA). There is no mention of the necessity for an amendment to the constitutional declaration of 2011.

A new initiative was presented by members from the south, which according to the Liberal Herald is more neutral in the "east-west political tug-of war." While the article says the initiative concerned a vote of confidence in the GNA by the HoR, there were no details of the initiative given. Note that this meeting was not attended by the president of the HoR, Ageelah Saleh. It appears another ruse to get around having the HoR as a whole vote on the GNA. might be in the works. The new initiative is supposed to deal with the political reservations on each side. Notice the complete lack of transparency as to any details as to what is being suggested. I would not be surprised if it involves a violation of the Libyan Political Agreement. At the end of the meeting, Shouaib and Homa called on PC PM Faiez Serraj to deal with the proposal "with all seriousness and with a high spirit of patriotic responsibility."

The Libya Herald notes:The meeting shows a number of interesting things. Firstly, that the PC still recognizes the sole, legitimate, legislative authority of the HoR in Libya, despite the fact that in Tripoli it has started to act as a legitimate authority prior to its GNA being approved by the HoR.

The article claims that there have been contradictory statements from different HoR members about the HoR holding a meeting in the desert city of Ghadames on the western border of Libya. Fraj Abuhashim, official spokesperson for the HoR said "the organization continues for a HoR session to vote on GNA in Ghadames." However, Ageela Salah, HoR president and speaker said that the HoR could only meet in Tobruk and under his leadership. I wrote an article a while back on the issue. Kobler obviously wanted those members of the HoR ready to vote confidence in the GNA to meet in Ghadames. The meeting was to take place last Wednesday. Nothing but silence on the issue by Kobler. The opinions of the president of the HoR and the spokesperson for the HoR now contradict one another.

The Herald puts the split between the two camps in the east as follows: The pro HoR political forces in the east are split into at least two camps. On the one hand they support a PC/GNA in principle, but insist on it being protected by an independent-of-militias and so called ‘’Islamists’’ army in Tripoli. The pro Hafter and Federalists in the east insist on Hafter leading any Libyan National Army. To this end, the Hafter camp object to article 8 of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) and will not allow a vote to go ahead in the HoR approving the GNA prior to article 8 being dropped.However, those who accept the GNA in principle also demand that section 8 be dropped.

As the Herald notes, the State Council consisting of former members of the General National Congress are anxious to set up a new unified command without Haftar. In what is very much an understatement, the Herald sums up the problem with any new initiative:" It will be interesting to see how the new HoR initiative will square these, what seem, fundamentally mutually exclusive demands." If Haftar remains, then the GNA may fall apart with many members of the State Council and some from the Presidential Council leaving but if he does not remain the eastern part of Libya is likely to rebel and break off.

Meanwhile, the president of the HoR,. Ageela Salah, has lashed out at the Presidential Council(PC) for setting up a unified Operations Chamber claiming it can do so under the Libya Political Agreement that gives it the power of commander in chief. Salah claims the PC lacks that power since the HoR has not yet approved the GNA.

Ageela Saleh speaker of the HoR critical of PC call to halt attack on IS until unified command formed.

Ageelah Saleh, speaker of the House of Representatives, based in Tobruk, has criticized the recent statement of the Presidential Council of the UN-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA).

Ageelah Saleh, speaker of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) was critical of the demand by the Presidential Council (PC) of the GNA that all those in the process of launching an attack on the Islamic State should stop until the PC set up a unified command. The statement maintained that a violation of the order would violate military law. The Misrata militia which were advancing towards Sirte from the west obeyed the demand. However, it is not clear what response Khalifa Haftar will make. He is advancing towards Sirte with a large convoy and other units of the LNA are coming from the south-east as well.

Saleh claims that the PC statement aggravates the divisions within Libya as well as violating the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA). it also casts aspersions on the patriotism of the Libyan National Army (LNA). The statement also makes it more difficult for the 6 plus 6 committee to come to an agreement on approving the GNA. The 6 plus 6 committee was set up after the last failure to vote on the GNA. It is composed of six opposed to passing the GNA and six in favor of passing it.

Saleh also objected to the PC claiming it was the commander in chief of the LNA as set out in section 8 of the Libyan Political Agreement. From Saleh's point of view, all of the decisions of the PC are illegitimate since the LPA has not yet been formally endorsed by the HoR, nor has there been a constitutional amendment to include the GNA in the constitution. According to theLibya Observer:Aqilah regarded the PC’s statement as an excuse against the pro-agreement HoR members as they agreed to remove article (08) from the appendix rules of the Skhirat agreement that strips HoR members of the title “Chief Commander” and gives it to he PC. However, despite the removal, the PC is working as unconstitutionally as before and is claiming the title based upon the statement issued by those HoR members.Ageela ignores the fact that the HoR does not have the power to remove article 8 from the LPA so it is not removed. The PC are correct to make their claim. What is surprising is that the section 8 in the additional provisions, not the "appendix rules," applied once the agreement was signed on December 17. Obviously the PC and the GNA and Kobler paid no attention to that fact until now. This perhaps shows the increasing power of those opposed to Haftar in the GNA.

Saleh also complained that Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), Martin Kobler, went beyond his job as UN mediator to intervene in the domestic affairs of Libya. He has repeatedly taken sides with certain UN agreement parties over others. For some time, now Kobler has explicitly said that his job is to strengthen the GNA and garner support for it. He claims the time for talk and negotiations is over. He claims the GNA is the only way forward and does not pretend to be a mediator any more.

Preparations are under way to hold a meeting of those members of the HoR who support the GNA to meet in Ghadames in the extreme west of Libya in order to approve the GNA and amend the constitutional declaration of 2011. Even if this meeting votes confidence in the GNA, those in favor of the GNA also want Section 8 deleted. Haftar's status as commander in chief of the LNA is not likely to be solved simply by an acceptance in principle by members of the HoR. There could be immediate conflict within the GNA as to whether Haftar remains in his position.

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Kobler may attempt to have some members of HoR meet in Ghadames to vote on GNA

A delegation from the Tobruk-base House of Representatives(HoR) arrived in the far western town of Ghadames on Thursday. The delegation is charged with preparing for a meeting next Wednesday to endorse the UN-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA).

The Libya Observer, said that the session will be attended by those from the HoR who support the Libya Political Agreement(LPA) signed at Skhirat on December 17th. The HoR has met in Tobruk numerous times to vote on the GNA and amend the constitutional declaration so as to include the LPA. Every meeting has been either without a quorum or has been disrupted with no vote. After the last meeting a group of about one hundred members of the HoR said they supported the GNA but only with the deletion of article 8 from the LPA. Article 8 makes the Presidential Council commander in chief of the LNA until a new appointment is made. Even those favoring the GNA want the article removed. It is not clear that the supposed HoR meeting will have enough members to pass a constitutional amendment which requires a two-thirds majority vote.

There is no indication at all that the president of the HoR, Ageela Salah has agreed to the meeting or called for any such meeting. Kobler is up to his usual tricks. If you cannot get your motion passed in a parliament simply bypass it. The same trick was used to come up with the Skhirat agreement. There were signers both from the HoR and the rival Tripoli based parliament the General National Council without either parliament signing on to the agreement.. When neither parliament would sign, Kobler simply gathered together in Skhirat those who were in favor and had them vote for the Libya Political Agreement without authorization from either parliament. Kobler appears on the brink of doing the same thing in Ghadames. He will then have as his legislature members of the HoR who support the GNA. He can fly them to Tripoli to join the State Council.

He formed the State Council using the same type of strategy. Since the GNC president would not send names for the Council as required by the LPA he simply recruited a member of the GNC who would. The names were accepted by the PC and then a meeting held which was during the first part of the GNC. The GNC approved the LPA, amended the constitutional declaration and then dissolved itself to become the State Council.

The Libya Observer claims that local and international parties including Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), called for holding an HoR meeting outside of Tobruk. The Observer says nothing about how this can be an HoR meeting unless the president convenes or approves it. The Observer concludes:On the other hand, the Libyan political dialogue’s team held a meeting on Thursday in Tunisia in which they called on the HoR to fulfill its commitments as per the political agreement, including making amendments to the constitutional declaration and endorsing the government.No doubt this means that the Dialogue team was suggesting that there be a regular meeting of the HoR as required by the Libya Political Agreement. Even if the planned meeting in Ghadames takes place, the issue of Section 8 and the status of Khalifa Haftar as commander in chief of the Libyan National Army is still not resolved. It simply becomes a cause for division within the GNA itself.

Ghadames is just a small town of about 10,000 mostly Berbers. The town is controlled by independent Tuareg troops. No doubt Kobler and his crew have a deal with the Tuareg for security. There is an airport not far from town. Perhaps the GNA or Kobler will be able to control who lands, in case any spoilers might try to attend. The town is almost 300 miles southwest of Tripoli and right near the border of Tunisia and Algeria. It is far from Tobruk. Who pays for all this travel and accommodations? Kobler has not made any statement about the planned meeting on the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) website. This is a good sign that it could very well happen but he does not want it widely discussed.

UPDATE: There is no report of the meeting taking place as yet.