Libyan parliament rejects Turkey - Libya government energy deal as illegal

The Libyan parliament has outright rejected the hydrocarbons deal signed yesterday between Turkey and the Libyan Government of National Unity with the House of Representatives issuing a statement to that effect.

According to media outlet Libyan Update, the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament Aqila Saleh affirmed his rejection to signing any agreement or memorandum of understanding by the outgoing government of Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, considering that they would not be binding for the Libyan state.

This came after Dabaiba government’s Foreign and Economy Ministers signed two memoranda of understanding on energy and gas with their Turkish counterparts.

The Parliament’s Spokesman, Abdulla Bleihiq, said in a statement Monday that “any agreement, treaty or memorandum of understanding that is concluded by Dabaiba government is rejected and illegal, given the legal end of the mandate of the government since 24 December 2021.”

The statement added that these agreements by the outgoing government “are not binding for the Libyan state and people.”

He said that “the signing of international agreements, treaties and memoranda of understanding is done through the head of state or parliament,” stressing the need for dealing with the government in Libya to be through the legitimate government that has won the confidence of Parliament, in reference to the Libyan government headed by Fathi Bashagha.