The Audit Bureau, based in the eastern city of Al-Beida and recognized by the House of Representatives (HoR), has frozen all the bank accounts of Prime Minister Thinni’s Interior Ministry until further notice.
The decision comes on the back of the continuing political tug-of-war between the HoR and the Thinni government over the position of Interior Minister Omar Sinki.
It will be recalled that Prime Minister Thinni had refused last week to accept the HoR instructions to reinstate Sinki, after an HoR committee had cleared Interior Minister Sinki.
The ongoing saga of Interior Minister Sinki had commenced back in February when Thinni had sacked or suspended his Interior Minister on 10 February – four days after the Interior Minister had accused General Khalifa Hafter of being a dictator.
The accusation by Sinki had come in an interview to Le Monde during Sinki’s talks with the French government in Paris.
Sinki refused to accept his sacking by his Prime Minister, saying that only the HoR could appoint or sack a minister. The HoR committee subsequently investigated Sinki and cleared him, and instructed Thinni to reinstate him.
The saga highlights the political splits within the HoR camp and further weakens an already weak political establishment struggling to impose its will. The freeze by the Audit Bureau on the Interior Ministry’s accounts can only add to the Thinni government’s troubles.
By Libya Herald Reporter.
