Libya’s eastern parliament has appointed Naji Mohamed Issa Belqasem as the new central bank governor, following the dismissal of former governor Sadiq al-Kabir last month by the presidential council in Tripoli.
Parliament spokesperson Abdullah Bliheg announced that all 108 lawmakers voted unanimously in favor of Belqasem, who previously served as the bank’s director of banking and monetary control. Mari Muftah Rahil Barrasi was also appointed as his deputy. Together, they are expected to establish a new board of directors for the central bank within 10 days.
This decision aligns with a U.N.-facilitated agreement between the parliament and the High Council of State to restructure the central bank’s leadership. Last month, the presidential council appointed Mohamed Abdul Salam al-Shukri, the former deputy governor, to replace al-Kabir. However, the eastern parliament and the Supreme Council of State deemed this move illegitimate, stating that such decisions should be made collaboratively per interim regulations from U.N.-backed talks aimed at unifying the country’s institutions.
Al-Kabir, who had been in office since October 2011, faced criticism from officials across Libya’s political spectrum regarding the management of oil allocations prior to his removal.
