Libyan MP Ali Abu Zuriba announced on Monday 12 October that parliament’s headquarters in the capital, Tripoli, had been temporarily closed ahead of new elections for the legislative institution’s presidency. Abu Zuriba said the elections were likely to be held on Tuesday or Wednesday, as a dispute intensified over the legitimacy of the new leadership elected in Benghazi and the possible division of parliament’s leadership between the two cities.
Abu Zuriba said the decision to close the headquarters followed a court ruling invalidating the elections for parliament’s presidency held in Benghazi. The issuance and content of the ruling remain attributed to the MP’s statement, while Abu Zuriba presented Tuesday or Wednesday as a possible date for the new vote, rather than a confirmed final date.
Al-Salihin Abdel Nabi’s election opens legal dispute
The moves follow the election of Al-Salihin Abdel Nabi as the new parliament speaker, succeeding Aguila Saleh. The procedures that led to the change in the leadership faced objections over their legality, while opposition MPs pushed for the election of a new speaker from Tripoli, alongside political and military efforts in eastern Libya to preserve the current leadership and strengthen its legitimacy.
As part of his efforts to strengthen his position and secure support from prominent military and political figures in the eastern camp, Al-Salihin Abdel Nabi held a series of meetings with army commander Khalifa Haftar, his deputy Saddam Haftar and army chief of staff for land forces Khaled Haftar. He also met Presidential Council member Musa al-Koni, as part of contacts aimed at defending the legitimacy of his parliamentary speakership.
Supporters of the leadership elected in Benghazi insist that it should remain in place, while its opponents in Tripoli are seeking to prevent the election results from being confirmed and calling for a new vote for the parliamentary presidency.
Rivalry between eastern and western Libya widens
The dispute is therefore no longer confined to objections over legal procedures, but is also linked to competition between influential forces in the east and west of the country for decision-making power within the legislative institution. Analysts say the core of the dispute goes beyond the legality of Al-Salihin Abdel Nabi’s election and extends to the balance of power within Libya’s state institutions.
Under this assessment, forces in the western camp fear that the new parliamentary leadership’s ties to the military establishment in eastern Libya could strengthen the eastern camp’s influence over political decision-making and allow the parliamentary speakership to steer the institution’s decisions in line with its positions.
Meanwhile, forces supporting Al-Salihin Abdel Nabi in the east are seeking to entrench his current leadership, while opposition MPs in Tripoli present their moves as an attempt to prevent a political and military party from monopolising decision-making within parliament. They also maintain their legal objections to the way the leadership was elected in Benghazi. Each side’s adherence to its position risks turning the dispute over the parliamentary speakership into a new institutional split between Benghazi and Tripoli.
Two rival leaderships threaten political consensus
The emergence of two rival leaderships for the legislative institution could complicate efforts to achieve political consensus and add another obstacle to attempts to reach a settlement that ends Libya’s existing division. The next step remains linked to the elections referred to by Abu Zuriba.
