The Head of the High Council of State (HCS) Khalid Al-Mishri said that the Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah should not run for the upcoming elections and respect the pledges he made, reiterating in a joint press conference Monday with the Head of the Audit Bureau, Khalid Shakshak, that the HCS is engaged in a political battle with the House of Representatives (HoR), which is "trying to become an absolute legislative authority, while it is an authority restricted by the political agreement."

Al-Mishri said that the High Electoral Commission must be replaced before elections are held, calling for the formation of a unified mini-government to supervise and hold elections. He stressed his rejection to the candidacy of dual nationals, military personnel, and judicial workers for elections, and defended the vote on the 13th constitutional amendment.

He said he believed that the 13th amendment was done correctly and with a legal quorum of 80 members of the HCS, adding that they didn't rejected the initiative of the UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily just yet, saying it was possible to conjoin the UN initiative with the 13th constitutional amendment, without explaining how.

"Bathily agreed with me that dual nationals should not run for the presidency, but he says that they should be given an opportunity to run. The political will of the HCS stands with the 13th constitutional amendment, and we have noticed attempts to obstruct our sessions." Al-Mishri said, warning against the continuation of what he described as a state of political deadlock, if the conditions for running for the presidential elections are not decided, and explaining that there are no guarantees for the success of the constitutional amendment or Bathily's plan.

He stressed that the decision of the HoR Speaker to transfer the authority of the Audit Bureau to the Administrative Control Authority is "similar to emptying the work of the Bureau of its content."

Shakshak said the Bureau should maintain the control role, pointing out that he was surprised by the decision of the HoR and expressed his hope that the political process would not affect the work of the Bureau, saying the Bureau will implement what the HoR and the HCS agree on regarding authority.