Haftar’s invitation to the presidency and the government to attend a military parade of his militias in Benghazi sparked widespread controversy in the Libyan street and through social media. While the President of the Presidency Council, Muhammad Al-Manfi, and a member of the Council, Musa Al-Koni, remained silent, and Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbaiba did not respond to that invitation!
A member of the Presidential Council, Abdullah Al-Lafi, warned against this behavior, describing it as unilateral, calling on the international community and the mission to play an active role to avoid any future escalation that threatens civil peace
Al Lafi warns
A member of the Presidential Council as “Supreme Commander of the Libyan Army” Abdullah Al-Lafi stressed the necessity of avoiding any unilateral actions such as maneuvers, field movements and military parades, noting that any party’s unilateral actions gives justification to other parties to take actions that obstruct the political process and impede the unification of the military institution and threaten the civil peace
Al-Lafi called, through a statement made by him, to all parties to immediately stop everything that might affect the political process by taking unilateral steps that are not calculated, calling on the countries sponsoring the agreement and the mission to play an active and effective role to avoid any developments that threaten what has been achieved.
One-third of the power
Libyan writer Ali Abo Zaid commented on Al-Lafi’s statement, saying, “The Supreme Commander appeals to the parties under his command.”
Abo Zaid added on his personal page that Al-Lafi’s statement, in fact, represents one-third of the Supreme Commander because the statement was issued by one of the three, adding that “the other two do not have the ability even to appeal,” referring to the silence of the Al Manifi and the Al koni.
With regard to the invitation of Al Manifi and Dbaiba by Haftar to attend the parade of his militias, Abo Zaid said that the problem is not whether Al Manifi and Dbaiba respond to the invitation or not, but rather the invitation itself, which confirms that Haftar sees himself as a supreme authority that is not concerned with any civil authority and is not subject to it according to him.
Abo Zaid believed that the attempt to overcome the embarrassment of Haftar’s invitation by sending someone to represent them is an escape from addressing the situation of Haftar, the rebel, with a provocative calm towards the new authority, which failed a test repeated by Haftar to confirm that he is stronger than this authority which is unable to take any action against him, this will increase the strength of Haftar’s position and encourage him to make his quiet rebellion into a violent rebellion.
Unclear statement
Political activist Abd al-Malik al-Madani asked whether what was meant in the statement of Presidential Council member Abdullah al-Lafi in his capacity as supreme commander of the Libyan army? The parade that Haftar will hold is the show that Borkan forces are preparing for
Anger ”in memory of the liberation of Tripoli.
Al-Madani said in a post on his official page that if it was intended to review Haftar, then why did he not name things by their names and demand that he be stopped immediately as the supreme commander of the Libyan army and not content himself with “a loose statement circulating on social media platforms.”
Al-Madani considered that the most important thing is that the statement came out in the name of one of the members of the Presidency Council, and it is a departure from the consensus required within the presidency as described.
Irritating calls
Social media has been circulating for days, inviting messages from Khalifa Haftar to the President of the Presidential Council, Muhammad Al-Manafi, his two deputies, and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba and his government to attend a military parade of his militia on May 29 in Benghazi.
Haftar’s call for exile did not include describing him as the supreme commander of the Libyan army. Rather, he described himself as the “Commander in Chief of the Libyan Armed Forces,” and his call to Dabaiba came after he and his government were prevented from holding their meeting in Benghazi last April.
Egyptian weapons
Social media has transmitted photos and videos of military trucks carrying large missiles and air defense systems coming from the border with Egypt heading to Haftar’s military parade at the Benina Air Base in Benghazi.
Haftar’s militia has been carrying out such military parades coinciding with the memory of what is known as Operation Al Karama, in which Haftar seized the eastern region after extensive military operations, during which he sought help from foreign forces from several countries such as the UAE, France, Egypt and Jordan, according to several international reports.
