Libya parliament postpones session to question government

By Muhammed Artimah

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – Libya’s House of Representatives (parliament) on Monday postponed a planned session to question the government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.

Parliamentary spokesman Abdullah Blihaq said the assembly decided to debate an election bill instead.

“The session was postponed upon an official request from the government,” the spokesman said in a statement.

He, however, did not announce a new date for the session.

On Aug. 22, the parliament announced that it had called the government for a questioning session. Dbeibeh, however, requested that the interrogation points be identified so that ministers could prepare the necessary responses to them.

Dbeibeh accused the parliament on Friday during a televised speech of disrupting life in Libya by failing to approve the government's budget since it assumed its duties more than five months ago.

In February, Libya's rival political groups agreed to form an interim unity government to lead the country into elections in December.

Mohammad Menfi was elected president of the interim setup with Dbeibeh as prime minister. Mossa Al-Koni and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi were also voted to the three-man presidency council.

Libyans hope the government will end years of civil war that have engulfed the oil-rich country since the ouster and killing of strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi in 2011.

However, warlord Khalifa Haftar still acts independently of the legitimate government, leads an armed militia that controls vast areas, and calls himself the "Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army", putting him at odds with the presidency council.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara