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The Libyan Supreme Court on Thursday discredited the internationally recognized Libyan parliament, laying the groundwork for more political chaos in the violence-wrecked North African country.
The ruling, which can’t be appealed, prompted triumphant gunfire in capital city Tripoli, which has been under rebel-militia control since August. The Tripoli court also invalidated a constitutional amendment which led to elections on June 25th, thereby nullifying the poll and the decision which have resulted from it.
The government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani, which was recognized by global powers, is sheltered in the remote town Tobruk in the country’s east near the Egyptian border, and does not control Libya’s main cities, including Tripoli and Benghazi.
The parliament’s legal committee has called an emergency meeting to review the ruling.
“Lawmakers will not recognize a verdict decided under the gun”, Issam al-Jehani, a member of the Tobruk-based parliament wrote on Facebook.
Libyan authorities have had very little control over the country, which has been awash with powerful militia and weapons after the ousting of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
The Thani administration has not yet commented on the ruling; Thani had been appointed as the Prime Minister by an interim parliament in March. The parliament has since been dissolved, with Thani himself submitting his resignation in August, before being appointed as the Prime Minister again by a newly elected parliament.
A parliamentarian had asked the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of the bill which approved Thani’s government, one of the two rival administrations in the country. Abderrauf al-Manai, who along with other parliamentarians had boycotted the Tobruk-parliament’s sessions, argued that the legislature was violating the constitution as it was not sitting in Tripoli or Benghazi. He also said that the parliament had over-reached its authority by calling for foreign military intervention in the capital after the rebel-militia takeover.
“I hope all parties will respect the decision of the court”, he told TV broadcaster Al-Nabaa.