http://www.libyaherald.com/2014/01/01/zeidan-vote-of-no-confidence-on-gnc-agenda-next-week/#axzz2pBkow7aK
Is Prime Minister Ali Zeidan on his way out in Sunday’s vote-of-no-confidence? (Photo: Sami Zaptia)
Tripoli, 1 January 2014:
The GNC has confirmed that 72 GNC members have tabled a motion to withdraw confidence in the Ali Zeidan government and to form a crises government.
The vote will take place on Sunday 5 January. This was confirmed by the publication late yesterday of the GNC’s agenda for Sunday next week – the GNC’s first working day of the week.
The vote of no confidence in the Ali Zeidan government will be the second item of the GNC’s deliberations next Sunday.
The first item under discussion will be the blockade of the oil ports in eastern Libya, a motion put forward by 23 GNC members.
The GNC had given Zeidan a deadline of a week on 17th December to resolve the oil crises. This deadline has now passed without any resolution to the oil blockade problem.
With regards to the vote of no-confidence in Ali Zeidan, this will not be the first time that some GNC members have attempted to bring down the current government. However, all previous attempts to vote against the government had failed at the early stage of the inability of the GNC to muster a quorum.
A vote to remove a government would need broad agreement across all political groupings, including the independents, as it would need to be passed by 120 votes.
It will be noted that in a major speech recently, the National Forces Alliance head, Mahmoud Jibril, indicated that removing the current government and forming a crises government was an option being discussed as one of a series of initiatives to get Libya out of its current political impasse.
Moreover, this initiative was received with positive overtures by the Justice and Construction party, which may indicate that the two largest parties within the GNC are looking as if they are reaching some kind of agreement on the next step forward. This may include sacrificing the Zeidan government in order to save the equally unpopular GNC.
The question is, as on the previous occasions, will the two largest parties be able to sway enough independent votes in favour of voting out the Zeidan government, or will enough independents “fail to turn up” at Sunday’s sitting in order to ensure that there is not an adequate quorum?
Moreover, up to now, GNC members seem to have been following the mantra of “better the devil you know” with the Zeidan government. It is believed that those who have desired to eject the Zeidan government have been unable to agree on an adequate replacement. A replacement that is broadly accepted, and who can necessarily do a better job than Zeidan.
There is debate as to whether the weakness of the government is a weakness of the Prime Minister Ali Zeidan personally, or a reflection of the weakness of the GNC itself, or that it is a systemic one – a weakness of the post revolutionary Libyan state as a whole.
http://www.libyaherald.com/2014/01/01/50261/#axzz2pBkow7aK
GECOL warns of Cyrenaica power cuts
By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 1 January 2014:
The General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) has warned that if the supply of gas being pumped through the production facilties at Brega are forcibly closed, it will result in power cuts across eastern Libya, and possibly the whole of the country.
Three days ago, Petroleum Facilities Guards threatened to block the 670-kilometre Brega-Khoms Intisar gas pipeline within two days unless they were paid back wages. The line supplies gas to Tripoli and to the power station at Khoms. However, the Khoms station’s main fuel is oil and the gas pumped through Brega mostly goes to the Zueitina and Benghazi North power stations.
The threatened blockade is seen as an attempt to increase the pressure on the government by the leader of the federalist, self-appointed Political Bureau of Cyrenaica, Ibrahim Jadhran, who has been blockading oil terminals in the east of the country. The blockade has hit state income and damaged the government’s credibility, but with the government and Congress refusing to concede any of his demands, Jadhan has so far been unable to gain any political successes.
He was commander of the Petroleum Facilities Guards in Libya’s central region, which includes Brega, and still has a wide following among those working in the force.
According to GECOL, any interruption to the gas supply at Brega would result in production stopping at Zueitina and Benghazi North, with the loss of 800 MW output, and could “even lead to the collapse of the general electricity network with power cuts to many Libyan regions.
GECOL urged the guards not carry out their threats, adding that it could not be held responsible if they did so and, consequently, there were wide-scale power cuts.
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/12/31/oil-stoppages-cost-libya-over-10-billion-abufunas/#axzz2pBkow7aK
Oil stoppages cost Libya over $10 billion – Abufunas
By Sami Zaptia
Tripoli, 31 December 2013 :
Speaking at a press conference in Tripoli yesterday to launch the new Financial Sector Regulator, the Minister of Economy, Mustafa Abufunas, revealed that the oil stoppages had cost the Libyan economy “over US$ 10 billion”.
Abufunas said that the continuation of the oil blockades in the east of Libya preventing oil exports, will have a negative effect on the Libyan budget because of the dependence of the Libyan economy on oil revenues.
The continuing blockade by Ibrahim Jadhran, the head of the self-styled federalist Political Bureau of Cyrenaica, on Libya’s main eastern oil exporting terminal ports of Sidra, Ras Lanuf and Zueitina has reduced Libya’s oil exports to a trickle.
Figures provided by the Ministry of Oil for 28 December show that Libya exported only 225,937 million bpd, compared to peaks of about 1.5 million bpd prior to the oil blockades.
The Minister of Economy went on to say that the stabilization of the security situation in Libya was very important for the building of Libya economically and its development. He also confirmed that his Ministry was seeking to activate an “Islamic economy”, as well as encouraging local and foreign investment.
The Minister of Economy went on to say that the stabilization of the security situation in Libya was very important for the building of Libya economically and its development. He also confirmed that his Ministry was seeking to activate an “Islamic economy”, as well as encouraging local and foreign investment.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Economy is organizing a “Scientific Conference on an Islamic Economy – the road to development, strategies for change and its tools”, on 6-7 January 2014 at the Corinthia hotel, Tripoli.
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