Libya Parliament Suspends Session without Crisis Breakthrough

The polling station doors are closed after the elections were postponed by a month by the High National Elections Commission in Benghazi, Libya December 24, 2021. (Reuters)
The polling station doors are closed after the elections were postponed by a month by the High National Elections Commission in Benghazi, Libya December 24, 2021. (Reuters)
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Libya Parliament Suspends Session without Crisis Breakthrough

The polling station doors are closed after the elections were postponed by a month by the High National Elections Commission in Benghazi, Libya December 24, 2021. (Reuters)
The polling station doors are closed after the elections were postponed by a month by the High National Elections Commission in Benghazi, Libya December 24, 2021. (Reuters)

Libya's parliament on Tuesday suspended its session until next week without a vote on any of the proposals raised on Monday for handling the fallout of last week's delayed election.

The session in Tobruk on Monday and Tuesday represented a first effort by Libya's fractured political class to chart a way forward after the election was delayed following disputes over the rules.

However, Monday's session broke up amid shouted arguments after various proposals were raised to push back the election date, look at restructuring the Government of National Unity (GNU) and consider constitutional changes.

Tuesday's session had been expected to include votes on those proposals. The parliament spokesman did not give any immediate reason for the suspension of the session.

It leaves in the balance both the electoral process and the future of the interim GNU and Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah.

Dbeibah's eligibility as a presidential candidate was a major cause of disagreement in the run-up to the election.

On Monday UN special envoy Stephanie Williams told Reuters that the main focus should be on moving forward with elections that were wanted by a majority of Libyans.

Simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections were conceived last year through a UN-backed political roadmap as part of a plan to end a decade of chaos and violence since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Moammar al-Gaddafi.

The parliament was elected in 2014 but split soon afterwards as the country divided between warring eastern and western factions, with most of the chamber relocating from the capital Tripoli to Tobruk and backing the eastern side in the conflict.

This week's session was one of the rare moments since 2014 that brought together more than 100 parliament members drawn from across the fragmented political scene to take part in a debate and vote on Libya's future.



Official: Iraqi Oil Minister Stable after Surgery in US

FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Swad, attends a signing ceremony of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) in Baghdad, Iraq, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Swad, attends a signing ceremony of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) in Baghdad, Iraq, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo
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Official: Iraqi Oil Minister Stable after Surgery in US

FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Swad, attends a signing ceremony of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) in Baghdad, Iraq, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Swad, attends a signing ceremony of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) in Baghdad, Iraq, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo

Iraqi oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani is in stable condition after receiving emergency heart surgery during an official visit to the United States, an oil ministry official who is part of the Iraqi delegation said on Saturday.

Abdel-Ghani arrived in the US earlier this week on a trip aimed at courting US companies to invest in Iraq’s energy sector.

The oil ministry official told Reuters he fell ill and was rushed to hospital during the trip and underwent heart catheterization surgery.

"He’s out from the operating theater and is in a stable condition," the official said.

Abdel-Ghani and other oil ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment.