The member of the House of Representatives (HoR) for the city of Benghazi Jalal al-Shuwihdi said that there is no real army on an institutional perspective in eastern Libya, saying that "what exists is sparse of security militias who are working to forestall any solution or political way out to the Libyan crisis that does not conform to the vision of Khalifa Haftar.
On his Facebook page, Al-Shuwihdi accused Hafter of intervening in the political process and deliberately spoiling any solutions to the Libyan crisis, referring to the recent interview of the latter with Al-Marsad news website, in which he said that the "army" has no interference in the political process.
Al-Shuwihdi cited Haftar's intervention in politics in an incident in which the Prime Minister of the East-based Government Abdullah al-Thani was prevented from leaving to Malta in mid-September 2015 by a group of "thugs" who forced him to get off the plane, in addition to his air force commander who threatened to bomb the Parliament's building and the government's headquarters if they do not work in the way Hafter wants.
Al-Shuwihdi said that the interventions of Haftar exceeded the political process to include the work of the Constitution Drafting Assembly, calling on its members to show courage and speak out of the interventions and the harassment they were exposed to by Haftar.
He explained that the interference in the work of the CDA was confirmed by Haftar himself in the interview, when he said that there are legal, economic, social, and judicial specialists who are closely linked to the army and will give him their opinion on the draft constitution.
As for Haftar's call to other parties to create the necessary conditions and suitable climate to ensure the freedom of elections and the integrity and acceptance of its results in accordance with the Paris Declaration, Al-Shuhaidi accused Haftar of violating Paris Declaration by handing over the oil ports and fields to the parallel institution of the non-internationally recognized government, stressing that without the international pressure, the crisis would have continued to this day.
Al-Shuwihdi questioned what Haftar had done for creating favorable conditions in the eastern region, especially in Benghazi, Derna and the in the Oil Crescent region, in which he said that Haftar's militias are carrying out abductions without any legal basis and without informing their families the place they were held in.
"What about the displaced people from Benghazi, Derna and Ajdabiya and other cities of Haftar's opponents, and what has become of their homes and property," Shuwihdi asked, demanding Haftar not to ask other parties anything, before he himself works to create such conditions he is talking about in the areas under his control.
Al-Shuwihdi concluded his statement by saying that Haftar is seeking to establish a military institution based on his person, pointing out that they as MPs have made the biggest concessions for the homeland, and if it had not been for his intervention and obstruction of the Skhirat Agreement, there would have been one government and unified institutions and that the country would have moved to elections and a permanent stage.
Jalal al-Shuwihdi is a member of the House of Representatives who is a supporter of the political agreement. Currently, he is residing in Tripoli after his public criticism of Haftar on more than one occasion, including a statement last year, where he demanded Haftar to resign and stay away from the army.
