75 members of the Tripoli-based High Council of State (HCS) confirmed Tuesday that the selection of Fathi Bashagha as prime minister to succeed Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh by the House of Representatives (HoR) last Thursday was based on official understandings between HCS and the Parliament (HoR).
The members considered that inviting some of their colleagues at HCS to discuss the amendments as a “useless” step.
They said in a statement that the parliament’s vote on the twelfth constitutional declaration came after the agreement between the two houses’ roadmap committees.
They stressed that the procedures for withdrawing confidence from the government were in accordance with the political agreement and the constitutional declaration, which coincided with the end of the government’s mandate on December 24.
The members explained that the mechanism for selecting the executive authority was carried out by agreement between the two houses (HCS and HoR) that the candidate obtains thirty recommendations from members of the State Council and forty from members of Parliament, and this is what was actually achieved, noting that only Fathi Bashagha got the required number with more than fifty recommendations.
The members stressed the need to adhere to the initial understandings between the two houses regarding separating tracks and addressing the constitutional track related to elections, which were presented in its final form to HCS members.