Political
On 3 November, the Integrity Commission reported that a number of documents, which include the curriculum vitae and financial disclosure statements for each new proposed cabinet minister have still to be received. Omar Abassi, a member of the commission, reported that the vetting process for the new cabinet would take up to three weeks, once the files from the newly-appointed ministers were received. A report on the ministers will then be submitted to the General National Congress (GNC) for final approval. The details of any proposed minister who failed the Integrity Commission standards would be forwarded to the administrative court in Tripoli.
Tripolitania and Tripoli
AFP reported that over 100 armed militia members protested in front of the National Assembly in Tripoli on 1 November. The protesters criticised Prime Minister Ali Zidan’s cabinet for its inclusion of former Qadhafi regime officials. The protest began on the night of 31 October, and included some rebels affiliated with the Ministries of Interior and Defence. Larger protests were reported in front of the National Assembly on 2 November. The Libya Herald reported that three major rebel groups, the National Union of Revolutionaries of Libya, the High Council of Revolutionary Brigades, and the Union of Revolutionary Brigades, are reported to have endorsed the demonstration. On 2 November, the daily Al Watan Libya wrote that National Assembly representatives were considering moving the assembly to Bayda, in eastern Cyrenaica, due to continued rebel and protester incursions inside the building. More than 30 representatives petitioned Speaker Mohammed Magarief for the move. Bayda is home to a building used by parliament under the Senussi monarchy.
The Libya Herald reported that long queues formed at petrol stations in and around Tripoli on 4 November, following a blockade of the Zawia refinery by militia members demanding that injured colleagues be treated abroad. By mid day, taxi drivers on the Tunisian border were reported to have been putting up prices for transit to Tripoli. Zawia provides much of the petrol in western Libya and the militia members say that they will continue to blockade the refinery until the new government accedes to their demands. They claim that in Zawia alone there are 150 fighters who were injured during last year’s revolution and that many need treatment abroad. The previous government clamped down on sending wounded Libyans abroad after what they considered abuse of the system. The present policy is that revolutionaries and other injuerd Libyans will be treated abroad, only if the treatment required is not available in Libya.
