Libyan Deputy Prime Minister, Hussein Al-Qatrani, said the position of Cyrenaica region officials that denounced the policies of the Prime Minister, Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, came after great pressure from public opinion in Cyrenaica, and suspending financial dues of some public sectors and agencies in the region.
There is no justice in appointments to companies and embassies on the basis of regions, Al-Qatarani said in press statements on Sunday.
The budget was not presented to me, neither to most of the ministers; the Prime Minister presented it to certain people, he added.
There is no justification for Dbeibeh’s continuation to keep the Defense Minister position, and we would have liked him to tell us the reasons for that, the Deputy Prime Minister pointed out.
It is noteworthy that Al-Qatrani concluded Sunday a meeting with officials from Cyrenaica, after which a joint statement was issued accusing Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh of violating the Libyan political agreement and the Geneva ceasefire deal.
“The government’s presidency did not abide by the terms of the political agreement, the Geneva outcomes, and the governing principles of the [peace] roadmap,” reads the joint statement of Al-Qatrani and Cyrenaica officials.
“There are decisions issued to infringe on the competence of some ministers specified by law,” reads the statement. “The government’s presidency did not commit to defining the competencies of the deputy prime ministers, which contributed to strengthening centralization”.
The Cyrenaica officials deplored Dbeibeh’s reluctance to nominate a defense minister and keeping the post to himself. The officials also threaten using “measures of escalation” if the aforementioned issues were not addressed.