Istanbul: After the Libyan House of Representatives in Tobruk granted confidence to the government of Fathi Pashaga, on Tuesday, in a controversial way, the country officially returned to the square of division, which it suffered before March 2021.
As the government of national unity headed by Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, refused to recognize the results of the vote for granting confidence to the Bashagha government, and accused the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Tobruk, Aqila Saleh, of “forgery and fraud.”
This is a reference to the accusation of a number of deputies to the parliament presidency of forging their signatures in order to reach the quorum for the session of granting confidence to the Bashagha government, despite their failure to attend the session.
The Tripoli alliance
and Dabaiba's meeting with Khaled Al-Mashri, head of the Supreme Council of State, on Wednesday, marked the demarcation of a new alliance in order to establish a constitutional basis and hold parliamentary elections next June.
And 30 deputies implicitly joined this alliance, after they issued a statement that considered what was issued by the House of Representatives in the two sessions of granting confidence and constitutional amendment in violation of the internal regulations of the Council, and it did not have the required quorum, and forfeited the right of the people to conduct elections.
Security and military, a group of leaders of Operation Volcano of Rage and security and military leaders in the region warned against imposing a parallel government (headed by Bashagha), and considered it an “empowerment for those who led the aggression against Tripoli (Haftar).
This alliance, which included the unity government, the Supreme Council of State, dozens of parliamentarians, and security and military leaders, necessarily aims to prevent the Bashagha government from working in Tripoli.
It was expected, according to Dabaiba's statements, that the Presidential Council headed by Muhammad al-Manfi would announce its support for the election option, or in other words its alliance with Dabaiba, but that did not happen, which suggests that the Council has not yet decided its position, waiting for whom the balance is tilted to, or that Its three members have not yet agreed on a unified resolution.
Security Arrangements in Tripoli
Pashaga does not seem concerned about the coalition that was formed to prevent his government from operating in Tripoli. Rather, he stressed, after granting his cabinet formation “confidence,” that his government “will smoothly take over its duties from Tripoli.”
He revealed that he has "arrangements with the security and military authorities to smoothly complete the delivery and receipt process."
Fashaga was the Minister of Interior in the Government of National Accord (2018-2021), and oversaw the formation of several security units. He was also one of the leaders of the revolution against Gaddafi in the city of Misrata and the spokesman for its military council in 2011, and one of the most prominent leaders who confronted Haftar’s attack on Tripoli in 2019.
When Bashagha talks about arrangements with the security and military authorities in Tripoli, he most likely means the security units affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, especially those he oversaw formation when he was the first man in the ministry, as well as the regular army in the western region led by Muhammad al-Haddad, the chief of staff (from Misurata).
But the real key to controlling the government headquarters on Al-Sata Street in Tripoli, and the other sovereign headquarters, is to convince the presidential security, which is charged with protecting these headquarters, to change its allegiance, and then Pashaga will not need to storm these headquarters with forces from outside Tripoli.
This is not uncommon in Tripoli, which witnessed several such cases, the last of which was when the Presidential Council dismissed the commander of the Tripoli military region, Abdel Baset Marwan, so the forces loyal to him moved to control the sovereign headquarters, including the Ministry of Defense, without bloodshed, because the forces guarding these headquarters It's the same one that captured it.
This happened in the same way when the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord entered Tripoli in March 2016, despite the Salvation Government’s threat to arrest its members, but months later the Special Presidential Security handed over the hospitality palaces (the seat of the State Council) to the Salvation Government.
Based on this experience, Bashagha has the keys to entering Tripoli, but at any cost, because Dabaiba, who shows an extraordinary ability in political maneuvering with those described as the owners of the knots and ties, prepared himself for this possibility after forming the so-called “referendum and election support force” and placing it under his authority Directly in his capacity as Minister of Defense, as well as his supporters in Misrata bringing about 300 armed vehicles to Tripoli in preparation for any confrontation.
Bashagha’s receipt of power from Dabaiba, in light of this tension and popular and military mobilization, is unlikely to be “smooth,” unless political parties (the Presidential Council) and social (the notables of Misrata) intervened to prevent the outbreak of any armed confrontations, whether in Tripoli or Misurata between the people of the same city.
Controversial
session The session of granting confidence to the Bashagha government was surrounded by a lot of legal and political controversy, as the State Council and the unity government considered this new government illegitimate because it came without consensus between the House of Representatives and the state as stipulated in the political agreement.
A sharp debate arose regarding the legal quorum for the legitimacy of the parliament session to grant confidence, and it was not even agreed on the number of deputies representing the quorum (half +1), is it 83 deputies or 89, and the vote was postponed from Monday to Tuesday, due to the failure to reach the quorum, according to media outlets. local.
However, according to Parliament spokesman Abdullah Blihaq, 92 deputies out of a total of 101 who attended the session, gave their confidence to Bashagha.
Meanwhile, Representative Mohamed Lino told Libya Al-Ahrar TV that the parliament session did not reach the quorum, as only 78 deputies attended, while the quorum required to hold the session is 88, and to grant confidence, 87 deputies must vote, which did not happen.
While the call was made during the voting session, which was broadcast live on 87 deputies, which raised the question about the fate of the 14 deputies who were said to have attended the session.
What raised more suspicions about fraud during the parliament session, a number of MPs denied their participation in the vote, and that their name (during the vote) was called despite their absence, among them “Abdul Nabi Al-Salihin”, Salah Al-Zobek, Ibrahim Karnfouda.
This prompted Dabaiba to sharply criticize Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh, saying that “Parliament directed to vote fraud and fraud after not achieving a quorum.”
On the other hand, Bashagha considered that the granting of confidence to the government was carried out in an "honest, open and clear manner and with a Libyan will."
Internationally, only Russia announced its support for the Pashaga government, and it was strange that Egypt delayed its blessing of the new government, even though it was the first to support the selection of Pashaga as prime minister on February 10 last.
Representatives and relatives in the government
What distinguished the Bashagha government is that it was not able to get rid of the policy of satisfaction, and instead of a government of competencies that did not exceed 18 ministers, the latter resorted to forming a government of satisfaction to gain the confidence of the deputies, so his government was expanded and included 3 deputy prime ministers, 30 ministers and 6 state clerks.
The most critical of this government was included in the names of deputies, even though Article 177 of the Parliament’s bylaw states that “a member of the parliament, during his membership, is not entitled to run for the position of prime minister or minister.”
The new government also included several names of relatives of representatives, and personalities close to Haftar, such as Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Qatrani, former deputy head of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord.
Also, Ahmid Houma, the Minister of Defense, who was the second deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, who supports Haftar, visited the United States in 2019, to defend the attack on Tripoli, and is expected to play a role in providing legal cover for Haftar to stop his prosecution in the Virginia US court.
After the Bashagha government was granted confidence, the discussion moved away from holding the elections, and the debate became more related to which of the two governments is more legitimate than the other, and whether this division will lead to renewed armed confrontations after more than 14 months of the ceasefire agreement.(Anatolia)
Burkina Faso: the inhabitants of Djibo torn between fear and despair
The security situation is still confused in Djibo in northern Burkina Faso. The city has been surrounded by unidentified armed men for nearly three weeks, threatening the peace of the population.
The livestock is also threatened by what looks like a blockade of the city even if the authorities have not yet confirmed or denied the presence of armed men in this city located 215 km from the capital Ouagadougou.
The city is only surviving for the moment thanks to the infusion of humanitarian actions by a few organizations which are trying somehow to stay put in order to help the populations. Civil society organizations fear for the survival of nearly 200,000 people who no longer have the right to come and go. Faced with the extreme drought, cattle and small ruminants risk running out of fodder. In this imbroglio, only the NGOs find it difficult to work.
Note that the city is home to two military bases. The population awaits the reaction of the security forces.
Senegal: the island of Gorée victim of the plastic waste of its visitors
In Senegal, tourists and sometimes locals return to the island of Gorée, which served as a rear base for a historic tragedy. Several Africans crammed into merchant ships were forcibly sent to the West and America. Today, the infamous island wants to fight against plastic waste left behind by visitors. To give itself a completely different image, the municipality has decided to fight against this scourge.
"Every day we face the same behavior, people throw plastic waste on the island and yet there are two bins in front of each house. Sometimes the island receives around 1,000 visitors a day and they bring a lot of plastic waste they leave on the site. We clean up every day and every two days, we get rid of 700 to 800 kilos of waste in Dakar" underlines Abdoulaye Mbaye, responsible for the sanitation of the island of Gorée.
The island of Gorée receives about 700 to 1,000 visitors every day and some 700 to 800 kg of waste is collected on this rock of about twenty hectares, before being transported to Dakar every two days. They then turned into compost. Thanks to its waste sorting and processing system, the island hopes to preserve its biodiversity and protect its waters. A place delimited by a metal mesh receives in pits dug in the firm ground the organic waste transformed into compost, product then stored in bags deposited all around.
For better waste management, the town hall of the island has set up a sorting and composting system to transform and recycle organic waste. The compost that comes out of this channel is used to develop the flora of the island and generate profits with the sale of the product in other regions. It is now possible to sort waste. In addition, this compost is ISO 14001 certified.
In Senegal, a law in force for almost two years now prohibits single-use and disposable plastic products. The island hopes that visitors will respect this decree by avoiding throwing their used bottles or straws on the coast.
While waiting for visitors to comply with the law, the municipality of Gorée continues to restore the facade of this beautiful island by collecting and transforming plastic waste.