Libya’s unity govt cements control
Rival administration cedes power in Tripoli
tripoli — Libya’s UN-backed unity government moved to cement control over the country’s finances and institutions on Wednesday after the rival administration in Tripoli ceded power in a boost to efforts to end years of chaos.
The concession late on Tuesday by the militia-backed administration that had controlled Tripoli since 2014 was a major aboutturn for a body that had made every effort to block the arrival of prime minister-designate Fayez Al Sarraj.
It came after UN envoy Martin Kobler held talks with Sarraj at the naval base where he has established his headquarters since his arrival under escort by sea last Wednesday.
The Government of National Accord has yet to secure a similar concession from another rival administration based in the far eastern town of Tobruk, which has long claimed international legitimacy because it was appointed by the parliament elected in the last polls in 2014.
In a directive published on its official Facebook page early on Wednesday, the GNA ordered all government “ministries and institutions and committees” to respect its authority and use its logo.
It also ordered the Central Bank and the Audit Bureau to freeze all state accounts immediately, except for salary payments to government employees.
The Tripoli-based administration said it was stepping aside in the national interest. “We inform you that we are ceasing the activities entrusted to us as an executive power,” it said in a statement.
The statement, bearing the logo of the so-called National Salvation Government headed by Khalifa
Some key elements of the agreement
> The Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Sarraj will be headquartered in the capital although “it can perform its functions from any other city”. > The GNA will have a one-year mandate, which will officially begin once it is endorsed by the recognised parliament based in Libya’s east. Ghweil, said the unrecognised Tripoli prime minister, his deputy premiers and cabinet ministers were all stepping aside.
It said the Tripoli authorities took the decision to quit because they were determined to “preserve the higher interests of the country and prevent bloodshed and divisions.”
The UN Libya envoy, in Tripoli on his first visit since Sarraj’s arrival, hailed the announcement as “good news” but added that > The PM will chair a ‘Presidency Council of the Council of Ministers’ consisting of five deputy prime ministers and three cabinet ministers. > Decision taken by the Presidency Council shall require unanimity of the president (chair) of the Presidency Council of the Council of Ministers. “deeds must follow words”. Kobler praised the “courage and determination” of the unity government, whose growing authority has raised hopes it will be able to restore some stability in Libya, which has been plagued by chaos since Muammar Gaddafi’s 2011 overthrow.
“We want to show that the UN and the international community support Prime Minister Sarraj and members of the presidency council,” Kobler told. —