The Libyan House of Representatives in Tobruk decided on Tuesday to suspend the duties of Fathi Bashagha, the Libyan prime minister appointed by the parliament and refer him for investigation.

Abdullah Belhaq, a spokesman for the council, which is loyal to Khalifa Haftar, said parliament voted by a majority to suspend Bashagha and refer him for investigation.

Belhaq added on his Facebook page that the House of Representatives assigned Finance Minister Osama Hammad to run the duties of the prime minister, in addition to the Ministry of Finance.

The House of Representatives did not explain the reasons that prompted him to suspend Bashagha from his job and the irregularities that led to his referral for investigation.

For his part, MP Tarek al-Jeroushi said the suspension came against the backdrop of the parliamentary administrative oversight committee's submission of a report with about 14 points, all of which condemn Fathi Bashagha.

"The report carried many points, including negligence in work, waste of public money, promises that have not been fulfilled and projects that have not been implemented," he said.


Political absurdity

In reactions, the head of the High Council of State, Khaled Al-Meshri, accused the House of Representatives of practicing what he described as political tampering, against the background of Bashagha's arrest.

Al-Meshri said, in a series of tweets, that the House of Representatives decided to suspend Bashagha in a suspicious way, after adopting his government in an opaque manner, as he put it.

He called on the House of Representatives to pay attention to the supreme interest of the state, in agreement with the High Council of State on a clear road map leading to elections under a unified government.

Bashagha had pre-empted his arrest by assigning his deputy, Ali Faraj al-Qatrani, to run the government's duties and delegating him all the powers granted to the prime minister.

This came in a letter to the Presidency and members of the House of Representatives on Monday and published on Tuesday on his government's Facebook page.

In his letter, Bashagha did not elaborate on the reason for his deputy or the duration of that mandate.

In February 2022, the House of Representatives tasked Bashagha with forming a new government after dismissing the national unity government headed by Abdelhamid Dabaiba.

In March of the same year, Bashagha formed a government but failed to enter the capital Tripoli by force to take power, prompting him to declare his government loyal to retired General Khalifa Hiftar of Benghazi.

This caused a political crisis, especially after Dabaiba refused to hand over power except to a government that comes through a new elected parliament, which prompted the United Nations to conduct negotiations to reach elections to resolve that crisis.

The internationally recognized Dbeibeh government controls all of western Libya and large areas in the south of the country.