TRIPOLI, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) — Libya’s House of Representatives spokesman Abdullah Bliheg announced Tuesday that Al-Salheen Abdelnabi was elected speaker of the House of Representatives, replacing Aguila Saleh.
His election came a day after the House approved amendments to its internal bylaws during a session at its headquarters in Benghazi and chaired by Second Deputy Speaker Mesbah Douma, with 102 lawmakers in attendance.
The amendments set the term of the House’s leadership at 12 months from the date of its election, with no automatic extension. They also barred an outgoing leadership from obstructing the election of a new leadership or postponing a House session convened for that purpose.
Saleh had served as speaker of the House since August 2014 for more than 12 years, making him the longest-serving speaker of the Libyan parliament.
His tenure also saw the adoption of electoral laws and repeated attempts to form new governments, amid continued disputes over the constitutional basis for elections. ■