The Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Council, Ahmed Maitiq, has headed an extensive meeting with a number of competent ministries in financial affairs. The meeting was devoted to follow up the implementation of the financial arrangements for the current year 2017, and to address some financial bottlenecks, as well as considering possible sources of funding for substantial projects such as the National Oil Corporation. According to the Information Office of the Presidential Council, the meeting reviewed the actions already taken on the preparation of the state budget for 2018, and the outcomes regarding its submission on time to the Presidential Council for adoption.
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Misrata Municipal Council member, Mustafa Karwad, was named the mayor of the city as a successor to the deceased mayor Mohamed Ishtawi, who was assassinated by unidentified gunmen on Sunday, December 17. In a press statement following his assignment, Karwad clarified that the municipal council members held a meeting on Monday and agreed on commissioning him with the mayor's tasks in the coming period until the new municipal elections are held. He added that he is bound to follow in the footsteps of the former mayor in running the city’s affairs.
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Fawzi Al-Nuwairi was elected as First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives after obtaining 59 votes in the voting session held Tuesday at the parliament’s hall in Tobruk. In the second round of voting, Al-Nuwairi competed with Mohamed Al-Waar, who managed to win 44 votes. The new election for the post of First Deputy Speaker came after the resignation of the former one, Emhmmied Shoaib last Saturday, following his absence for nearly two years from attending the sessions.
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The Foreign Ministry of Presidential Council reiterated that Libya is a transit country for migrants and is affected by various crises, including the shortage of resources required to deal with the migration matter, which led to troubling effects on social, economic and security systems in the country. The ministry expressed in a statement its concern on the International Day of Migrants that "the international community should work to develop the least developed countries, which are a major source of irregular migrants who expose themselves and their families to the risk of becoming victims of human traffickers." It also stressed Libya's commitment to the principles of the United Nations and human rights values and norms, discharging its responsibilities towards the rest of the world in working with the United Nations and its specialized organizations.
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The UN envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, said that he had "took note of the broad consensus among the Libyan leaders on the need to hold presidential and parliamentary elections." This came after a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Aqila Saleh, and a number of deputies on Tuesday in Tobruk, where Salame expressed his pleasure at what he described as "activating the official Libyan institutions, led by the House of Representatives." He also discussed with the Chairman of the Dialogue Committee of HoR, Abdel Salam Nassia and a number of deputies the latest developments in the political dialogue.
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Member of the House of Representatives for Tarhuna city, Abu Bakr Saied, said Tuesday that the failure to fully include the Skhirat agreement in the constitutional declaration, including the action plan of the UN envoy, would create more mist in the political scene and complicate the Libyan crisis. “The partial inclusion of the political agreement in the constitutional declaration will be a complete chaos," the MP said on his Facebook, stressing that the people are looking to unite the institutions and hold parliamentary and presidential elections rather than seeing a fourth government and a third version of the central bank or a second presidential council.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided humanitarian assistance and medical kits to support the displaced families of Tawergha town in Benghazi, in cooperation with Benghazi Medical Center. The WHO clarified that together with the Libyan Ministry of Health, it has been able to deliver medicines and other medical supplies to to Benghazi Medical Center to treat up to 10,000 people for more than three months. The WHO revealed that these supplies and medicines were provided with funding from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.
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The UNSMIL has responded to the appointment of a new governor for the Central Bank of Libya by saying that the Article 15 of the Libyan Political Agreement presupposes consultation between the House of Representatives and the High Council of State before selecting the incumbents of sovereign leadership positions. The UNSMIL said Wednesday on Facebook that the UN affirms that the unification of institutions is ultimate goal that all Libyans should aspire, including refraining from taking unilateral actions.
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Municipalities of Central Tripoli, Sooq Al-Jumua, Al-Khums, Zliten and others in western Libya announced Thursday off for all schools over heavy rainfall and bad weather conditions, not to mention a cold wave that is hitting the region. Meanwhile, Tripoli and other cities' roads have been flooded by rain water that has been pouring heavily since early Wednesday morning, with the forecast showing continuous heavy rain for Thursday as well.
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