Today, Wednesday, the head of the Libyan "High Council of the State", Khaled Al-Mashri, announced the suspension of communication with the House of Representatives in the city of Benghazi (east) until the law establishing a constitutional court is abolished, while the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, defended the new law, saying that it achieves justice.

Al-Mashri said in a letter addressed to Saleh, which was published by the Media Office of the Supreme Council of State on its official Facebook page, that we do not consider the law establishing a constitutional court among the legislative powers, but rather it is a constitutional matter.

Yesterday, Tuesday, the House of Representatives in Tobruk (east) discussed in its session a law proposal submitted by its Speaker, Saleh, to form a constitutional court in Benghazi consisting of 13 members appointed by the House in its first formation.

After the session, Parliament spokesman Abdullah Blehaq said, in a brief statement, that the House of Representatives had approved the Constitutional Court Law by majority, without giving details.

Mishri's message

In his message to Saleh, Al-Mishri explained that the parliament's action "shakes the trust we are trying to build between the State and Parliament, demolishes efforts to reach consensus on the constitutional path, and deepens the institutional division in the country."

The Supreme Council of State is an advisory partner to the House of Representatives in the crucial steps to resolve the crisis in Libya in accordance with the political agreements between them.

The President of the High Council of State addresses an official letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, warning him of the need to cancel the law establishing a Supreme Constitutional Court in the city of Benghazi, which was issued in violation of the constitutional provisions and everything approved by the two houses.

pic.twitter.com/l61jon4s6d

- salem and ghanem (@And_Ghanem) December 7, 2022

In the context, Al-Mashri called on the President of the Supreme Court and its advisors, the President and members of the Supreme Judicial Council and members of the judicial bodies not to implement the decision to establish the Constitutional Court in the city of Benghazi.

Al-Mashri warned of the danger of any judicial authority naming any of the judiciary to the membership of the newly created court.

He described the House of Representatives' move as a circumvention of what was agreed upon "to subject the Constitutional Court to private desires that do not serve the country and to disrupt the Constitutional Chamber so that it does not consider appeals before it."

Akila defense

On the other hand, the House of Representatives said today that the new law achieves justice and has no effect on the constitutional path, saying that when a new constitution is issued, all laws that violate its provisions will be abolished.

This came in a statement by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, which was published by the Parliament's spokesman, Abdullah Belheeq, on his official Facebook page.

The statement quoted Saleh as saying that the issuance of the law is an affirmation of the protection of freedoms and rights and the addition of a specialized judiciary in constitutional matters.

In his statement, Saleh did not comment on the decision of the President of the State Council, Khaled Al-Mashri, to suspend communication with him, as well as to suspend the work of the joint committees between the two councils.

After it was closed since 2016, the Constitutional Chamber in Tripoli returned to work on August 18, by decision of the General Assembly of the Supreme Court, after a demand to activate it to adjudicate disputes over laws and constitutional amendments that led the country to a political crisis over the legitimacy of the country's institutions and their decisions. .

After this return, the decision of the Libyan Parliament came.

political deadlock

After the failure of the elections, Libya entered into a new conflict when the House of Representatives in Tobruk (east) assigned a new government headed by Fathi Bashagha, which has been wrestling since last March over power with another recognized by the United Nations, which is the national unity government headed by Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba, who He refuses to hand over power except to a government assigned by a new elected parliament.

Also, during 2022, Libya was unable to hold elections.

As a result of the failure of a joint committee of the House of Representatives and the Supreme Council of the State to agree on a constitutional basis for holding elections.

The reason for the failure of the work of the committee, which was formed at the initiative of the United Nations, was a dispute over the conditions for running for the presidential elections, including the participation of military personnel and dual nationals.