New council in Sabratha takes over

The newly elected local council in Sabratha officially took over from its predecessor in a ceremony on Wednesday, 31 October.

Local elections, which were held on 7 October 2012, saw Deya-Uddin Al-Gharabli emerge as Council Chairman.

“We from the Ministry have relentlessly strived to make sure that local councils would come to power through legitimate elections, especially at this stage. Sabrata was among those cities that were a shining example in managing their affairs in an organized manner”, declared Libya’s deputy minister for Local Government during the hand-over ceremony held in the nearby seaside tourist village of Dar Tellil. Attendees included all the outgoing and incoming council members.

The Chairman of Sabratha’s Council of Elders, Al-Arabi Al-Shareef, deemed the town elections a success despite  low turnout. This, he ascribed to the lack of awareness regarding electoral procedures. Although over 60 percent of registered voters took part in the elections, only 35 percent of potential voters had registered in the first place, meaning that participation ultimately amounted to only 21 percent of potential voters.

On his part, outgoing Local Council Chairman Abu Qasim Krier spoke of handing over “the banner and the rudder” to the young for them to carry on with the work started over a year ago, adding that former Council members would provide consultation to the best interest of the town. He also talked about the previous local government and diverse problems it faced in implementing projects, giving account of budgets allocated during his chairmanship, which were estimated at six and a half million dinar.

Sabratha’s newly elected Chairman Diya-Uddeen Al-Gharabli, expressed his appreciations to all those who had placed their trust in the new council members, stressing that they would work together as a team.

In order to move from revolution to state building there was constant communication with all parties in the new local council, stated the town’s Civil Society Institutions Coordinator.

Concluding the ceremony, employees of Dar Tellil paid homage to the outgoing Local Council and the representative of Sabratha to Libya’s former National Transitional Council.