The House of Representatives (HoR) has elected Mohamed Al-Shukri as the new governor of the Central Bank of Libya to replace Saddek Elkabir. Shukri, from Khoms, received 54 votes. Beida-based acting CBL governor Ali Hebri was humiliated taking only three of the 107 votes.
Ahmed Rajab was given 38 votes, Abdul Hameed Sheikhi nine and there were 3 abstentions.
So far there has been no reaction from the Presidency Council or its government.
The process to replace Elkabir started earlier this year and the three of the four candidates made their presentations to the HoR back in April.
Shukri is a former director of the Jumhouria Bank. With over 30 years of banking experience, Shukri was also previously a deputy vice governor of the CBL.
“He is very much a bureaucrat. He will follow the rules, he will follow the law,” said one former Libya-based banker. “He was the best of those who were on offer and he knows the banking sector well,” the banker said, adding that Shukri was far better than Ali Hibri.
“I don’t think he will be a brilliant governor but he will do the job reasonably well,” the banker predicted, but doubted whether Shukri would be a man of vision.
The HoR session had been interrupted after protestors outside called for a transfer of power to Khalifa Hafter. They wanted to stop it, claiming that the mandate of the HoR had expired with the supposed end of the Libyan Political Agreement on 17 December. They also accused the HoR of wasting time and contributing to the shortages of food, money and gas.
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Tripoli CBL governor rejects HoR’s appointment of new governor, Al-Sweihli calls it unilateral act
By Abdulkader Assad
The Governor of the Tripoli-based Central Bank of Libya (CBL) Al-Siddiq Al-Kabeer has rejected the appointment of a new governor – Mohammed Al-Shukri – for the CBL by the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk.
In a statement issued Tuesday shortly after the appointment, Al-Kabeer said the rejection comes from his responsibility to preserve Libyans’ fortunes and resources amid the current chaos and not because he wants to keep the job for himself.
“The CBL is in support of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) that is internationally and nationally recognized as the sole authority and main source of official decisions, thus the HoR’s appointment of a new governor for the CBL is a blindingly obvious violation of the law and the LPA.” The statement reads.
It added that the CBL will remain distant from conflicts and agendas, assuring the Libyan people that it is going to keep on reserving their assets and reforming the economic sector as well as the financial one so that the Libyan dinar can regain its value, thus leading Libya into economic and political stability.
Meanwhile, the Head of the High Council of State (HCS) Abdelrahman Al-Sweihli also rejected the “unilateral” decision made by the HoR by appointing a new governor for the CBL, adding that it is against the LPA.
“Al-Siddiq Al-Kabeer will remain the CBL governor until the sovereign positions are occupied as per the Article 15 of the LPA.” Al-Sweihli tweeted Tuesday evening.
On the other hand, there has been no statement yet by the Presidential Council or the UNSMIL or even the countries which have interest in the Libyan situation regarding the new HoR appointment.
Al-Shukri was voted a new governor Tuesday by 54 HoR members though the session was delayed for some time as loyalists to Khalifa Haftar stormed the headquarters of the HoR and prevented the MPs from entering, protesting the continuation of the political process after December 17 and calling for mandating Haftar to rule Libya.
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