Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said Tuesday that the conflicts and wars that the country has been through are of political and not regional backgrounds.
In a speech addressed to the people of the eastern region (Cyrenaica region), the PM said that Libya's crisis has never been regional and dividing the country was also unacceptable, adding that no person or group of people can speak on behalf of an entire region.
The Prime Minister’s remarks come in response to a statement issued earlier this month, signed by a group of officials calling their selves “Cyrenaica officials in the Government of National Unity."
The group claimed that the GNU's presidency "did not commit to implementing the terms of the Political Agreement and the governing principles of the road map regarding the unification of institutions, and the equitable distribution of resources in the proper legal ways between the regions," warning to take the situation further and form a parallel government in eastern Libya.
In his speech, Dbeibah revealed that 43 percent of the ambassadors of Libya who were appointed by his government belong to Cyrenaica, while the Minister of State for Prime Minister Affairs Adel Jumaa said 40% of the ministers, and 23% of the deputies, are from the Cyrenaica region.
Jumaa also drew attention that the region's representatives occupy 29% of the investment companies and 24 leadership positions in the Libyan Company for Foreign Investments.
Responding to these figures, Dbeibah said, "this allocation of posts was unintended, but they clarify the facts. "Do not hold me accountable for previous governments but only for the performance of the GNU."
As for the debts of the previous east-based interim government, the PM said that it amounted to 600 million dinars, stressing that the GNU stands ready to pay these debts "but through legal channels."
In response to the statements of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Faraj Qaim, Dbeibah said, "We did not discuss Qaim's resume much, but his people in Barqa are those who nominated him for this position."
"Qaim must keep to his limits, and he has nothing to do with choosing the Minister of Defense," Dbeibah underscored.
The PM called on his deputy, Hussein al-Qatrani and Faraj Qaim, to return to their offices in Tripoli, stressing his readiness to revisit his decisions "if there is anything that needs to be reviewed."
