Baaio: Court ruling confirms validity of Presidency Bureau election; Tripoli office is administrative, not legislative
LIBYA – Mohamed Baaio, media adviser to the House of Representatives, said Monday’s ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court on how to calculate an absolute majority of the House’s members confirmed, in his reading, the validity of the 6 October session and of the procedures to elect the Speaker and his two deputies. In a separate statement, he stressed that the House’s only legal seat is in Benghazi.
Legislative interpretation request and Law No. 4
In a statement to the Libyan News Agency (LANA), Baaio said the ruling on legislative interpretation request No. 8/2 (Q.D.), submitted by Libyan Government head Osama Hammad, addressed the legal basis for calculating an absolute majority under Law No. 4 of 2014 governing the House of Representatives’ internal rules.
He added that the ruling defined an absolute majority as half plus one of the members whose membership remains legally valid, without counting seats vacant for any reason, which he said confirmed that the quorum had been met at the session that elected the Presidency Bureau.
Quorum interpretation and session outcomes
Baaio said the interpretation request was intended to clarify the legal basis for the quorum and the decisions and procedures resulting from it. He said the ruling, together with the order to publish it in the Official Gazette, settled in his view the legal dispute over the session and its outcomes, and confirmed that MPs had exercised their powers under the law and by the will of their members.
He expressed hope that the change in the Presidency Bureau would mark a more orderly start to legislative work, support stability and help pave the way for a phase based on free and fair elections.
Clarification on the closure of the Tripoli office
In a separate post on his Facebook page, Baaio commented on reports that a force belonging to an armed group had closed the House of Representatives’ office in Tripoli and prevented its staff and some MPs from entering, saying the House’s only legal seat is in Benghazi, at its well-known official address.
Baaio said the so-called House of Representatives branch in Tripoli was an administrative service office belonging to the House’s Diwan, which he described as an administrative and financial instrument with no legislative or representative status.
Distinguishing between the House and its Diwan
According to his post, Baaio stressed that the House of Representatives is a sovereign legislative institution, not a service institution or a company that can have branches or offices at home and abroad. He said its authority is exercised at its designated and sole seat, in the presence of its elected members in the chamber.
He said he rejected any interpretation that would give the administrative office in Tripoli the status of a parallel legislative seat, describing any claim to the contrary as incorrect and worthless.
Accusations of trying to split the House
Baaio attacked those he called “traders in illusions”, accusing parties of believing that their illegitimate control over some streets and neighbourhoods of the capital, Tripoli, would allow them to split and divide the House of Representatives.
Addressing them, he said: “Enough mischief — come to your senses or resign from a House whose existence and decisions you do not recognise.” He said that, in his reading, the Supreme Constitutional Court’s ruling had shielded the House’s decisions and confirmed the soundness and validity of the session that elected the new Presidency Bureau.
