TRIPOLI: Libya’s Supreme Court yesterday declared the internationally recognised parliament as unconstitutional, in a ruling likely to fuel further chaos in the north African oil producing nation.
The decision, which was rejected by the assembly, came a day after gunmen stormed Libya’s biggest oilfield and shut down production at the facility in the country’s remote south.
Libya is in chaos as two rival governments and parliaments are struggling for control of the country’s vast energy reserves three years after the overthrow of veteran ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Dozens of armed groups have also joined the fray.
Libya is split into a western part controlled by fighters calling themselves Operation Dawn, who seized the capital in August, and a rump state in the east where the internationally recognised parliament and government are now based.
In a televised ruling, the Supreme Court invalidated the election of the House of Representatives, which has fled to the eastern city of Tobruk. The court said a committee that prepared the election law had violated Libya’s provisional constitution.
The June election produced an assembly with a strong showing of liberals and federalists, annoying Islamists with links to Operation Dawn, which seized Tripoli two months later.
The Supreme Court is based in Tripoli, where Dawn has reinstated the previous parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), where Islamists had been stronger.
The fighters, who come mainly from the western city of Misrata, have taken control of state bodies, calling into question the court’s ability to make independent rulings.
The GNC head, Nouri Abusahmain, said the ruling provided a chance for a national dialogue to end Libya’s crisis.
“We the General National Congress call for dialogue,” he said in a televised speech. “A dialogue serves national reconciliation, stability and development.”
Responding to the ruling, the House of Representatives in Tobruk declared it did not recognise the court.
“The ruling was made under the threat of guns,” the assembly’s spokesman Farraj Hashem told a news conference.
The United Nations said in a statement it was studying the ruling, adding there was an “urgent need for all parties to forge consensus on political arrangements”.
The decision came after gunmen stormed Libya’s El Sharara oilfield on Tuesday and Wednesday, shutting down the country’s biggest production facility.
Officials said yesterday the gunmen had left the field. A Libyan official said authorities hoped to restart production very soon.
REUTERS
