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| Africa North |
| Libya PM Says He Plans Cabinet Reshuffle |
| 2014-01-09 |
| [An Nahar] Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan ... served as a diplomat for Libya during the 1970s, serving in India under Ambassador Mohammed Magariaf. Both men defected in 1980 and went on to form the National Front for the Salvation of Libya. Zeidan spent nearly three decades in exile in Geneva after the defection. During the revolution Zeidan served as the National Transitional Council's Europe envoy, and is credited as having played a key role in persuading French President Nicolas Sarkozy to support the anti-Qadaffy forces... said Wednesday he would soon announce a major cabinet reshuffle, after calls in the assembly for a vote of no confidence in his government. "There will be a large ministerial reshuffle next week or the week after," Zeidan said at a news conference. He said the portfolios affected would include that of interior minister, vacant since Mohammed Khalifa al-Sheikh resigned in August, as well as the posts of other ministers who wish to leave government. Last summer, Zeidan announced "an imminent reshuffle" several times without taking action. In little over a year in power, his government has come in for regular criticism for failing to restore stability more than two years after the fall of dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest... Several members of Libya's highest political authority, the General National Congress, have been trying to bring down the government, but have not succeeded in securing the number of votes required. On Tuesday, the GNC failed to agree on what action to take about Zeidan's government, after a censure motion put forward by 72 politicians. Discussions on the subject were pushed back to Wednesday before being further postponed to next week. Zeidan said his critics in the GNC are a "minority", but said he would "willingly" leave the post of premier if the assembly chose to replace him. "I do not want to leave the country in a vacuum," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |