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By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 10 September 2014:
Omar Al-Hassi, appointed prime minister by handful of former General National Congress members just . . .[restrict]over a fortnight ago, was installed in the Prime Ministry building on Tripoli’s Railway Road yesterday. The move was undertaken by Saleh Makhzoum, the Second Deputy President of the former General National Congress, with the help of a group of Libya Dawn forces.
It is the second time since Abdullah Al-Thinni and his administration moved east that a supposed preime minsiter has been installed in the building with military backing. At the end of May, Ahmed Maetig who was chosen as premier by many of the same people who last month opted for Hassi, was similarly installed for what, however, turned out to be a brief tenure. On 9 June, the Supreme Court ruled his election by the GNC unconstitutional.
Libya Dawn forces have been guarding the building for several days. A member of staff there told the Libya Herald that he and others had stopped going into work because the militiamen were demanding to inspect their mobile phones and papers.
The handover is seen as largely symbolic, given Hassi’s limited powers even within the areas controlled by the forces ostensibly backing him. Moreover, there remains mystery over exactly how many of his 19 ministers were actually asked to join his cabinet before he announced them last week.
Less than two-thirds actually turned up when Makhzoum – increasingly the face of the rump Congress rather than Nuri Abu Sahmain – inaugurated the “administration” last week.
On Friday, the man chosen to be Minister of Education, Derna university professor Adel Anibh, was widely quoted saying that he had never been asked to serve by Hassi and that the first he had learned about the appointment was when he saw it announced on TV. [/restrict]
