The President of the Supreme Council of State, Khaled Al-Meshri, stated that when the Council voted on the roadmap towards elections, the government went crazy and instructed its security apparatuses to obstruct the Council by any means possible. Massive funds will be allocated to these authorities. Additionally, some Council members who were on an official mission to Turkey were prevented from traveling and had their passports seized.
Al-Meshri emphasized the importance of issuing the agreed-upon laws in his communications with the House of Representatives. He believed that this would happen in the near future and regarded it as a genuine and serious step towards elections. However, the government vehemently rejected these steps due to the vested interests of those in power who do not want elections to take place.
Furthermore, Al-Meshri highlighted the necessity of forming a unified government to oversee the elections, with its term lasting less than 8 months.
Al-Meshri acknowledged the efforts of the Supreme Council in facilitating the elections, while the government accused the Council of the opposite. It should be noted that the Council has not received any budget since September of the previous year, but this is not a problem for them. Their main concern is to extricate the country from this predicament. In contrast, the government and its allies, who control certain ministries, receive hundreds of millions and actively hinder the elections, even impeding the Council’s meager budget that has been consistently lower than that of other entities in previous years.
Al-Meshri further expressed that the government and some holders of sovereign positions have gone mad after unifying certain positions. The government has been acting irresponsibly, committing crimes, and leading us towards dangerous setbacks.
Regarding the case of the detention of Faraj Boumtari at Mitiga Airport by the Internal Security Agency, Al-Meshri mentioned his communication with the Attorney General, who informed him that this respected individual is not even suspected of corruption or any wrongdoing, as his record is clean. Al-Meshri added that during the war on Tripoli, Boumtari served as the Minister of Finance in the Government. Thus, he shares positions that do not align with his social composition. When the opportunity to apply for sovereign positions arose, he tried to participate through the Supreme Council but failed to progress even through the committee established by the House of Representatives. This Libyan citizen faced obstacles in obtaining endorsements and this position. He was arrested solely due to his involvement regarding the Central Bank of Libya, which is unacceptable.
Al-Meshri also highlighted that the first person to be banned from traveling was Suleiman Zoubi, an 80-year-old legal advisor from Benghazi who was imprisoned for two years during the Libyan Dawn war. He is the father of three martyrs. Al-Meshri expressed astonishment that someone like Zoubi was prevented from traveling by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, who played no role in the February 17 revolution or the sacrifices made. Al-Meshri received threatening messages, and he remains resolute, having never yielded during Muammar Gaddafi’s era, the attack on Tripoli, or the attempt to seize legitimacy in 2014.