The defense file sparked a new dispute between the Libyan Prime Minister, Abdelhamid Dbeiba, and the President of the Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Menfi, after Dbeiba refused al-Menfi’s invitation to consult on the nomination of the Minister of Defense, arguing that the appointment to this position is one of his responsibilities.
This came in a letter sent by Dbeiba, on Tuesday, June 29, to the Presidential Council, in response to a letter from the President of the Council, who asked him to attend a meeting next Sunday to consult on naming the Minister of Defense, a position that Dbeiba has held for himself since he took power more than 3 months ago.
The council’s speech included a paragraph saying that in case Dbeiba did not attend, “the council will take a decision to name the defense minister and refer him to the House of Representatives for a vote.” This is the first call by the Presidential Council for Dbeiba to name the defense minister.
We note that last March, Abdelhamid Dbeiba stated that there is a crisis in naming who will take over the defense file from a particular region.
Since the beginning of the formation of the Dbeiba government, no name was included in the defense file, and a figure was to be appointed in consultation between Dbeiba and the Presidential Council, but Dbeiba took on this ministry, instead.
A Call for the Necessity of Organizing the Military Institution
Dbeiba, the Acting Minister of Defense, stressed the necessity of organizing the military institution, during his meeting with the Army Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Muhammad Al-Haddad, in the capital, Tripoli, according to a government statement.
He also stressed, during the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of the military regions, “the necessity of organizing the military institution, specifically its employees.”
On February 5, the Political Dialogue Forum, under the auspices of the United Nations, elected a unified executive authority, comprising a government headed by Abdelhamid Dbeiba and a presidential council headed by Mohamed al-Menfi, to lead the country to parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for December 24.
