The Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said that Khalid Shakshak "is the head of the Audit Bureau legally until the appointment of sovereign positions is decided in accordance with the political agreement," as per a letter addressed by Dbeibah to ministers and heads of bodies and institutions, signed on December 26.
Dbeibah relied on the appeal being considered by the Third Labor Circuit of the South Tripoli Court of First Instance, which has a hearing scheduled for January 8.
Earlier on Thursday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aqila Saleh, assigned Shakshak to continue as Head of the Audit Bureau in the western region, until an agreement is reached on the appointment of sovereign positions. Saleh indicated that Shakshak "has the right to take all organizational and legal measures to organize the workflow, until a final ruling is issued by the judiciary."
The South Tripoli Court of First Instance issued a jurisdictional order to suspend Khalid Shakshak from performing his duties as head of the Audit Bureau due to “the loss of his status in accordance with the House of Representatives’ decision regarding the appointment of a head of the Audit Bureau,” according to what was announced by the Litigation Department in Tripoli. In the order issued on Wednesday, the department directed all concerned parties to implement the order and not to act upon any decisions issued by Shakshak, with the order being subject to immediate enforcement.
The Litigation Department in Tripoli reported that the decision was suspended until the appeal was resolved, after a motion was filed with the Sixth Civil Circuit of the Tripoli Court of Appeal.
The Audit Bureau’s Undersecretary, Atiya Hussein Abdul Karim, considered himself acting head of the Bureau, calling on all employees not to act upon any decisions issued by Shakshak, referring to the jurisdictional order issued by the South Tripoli Court, and threatened to take disciplinary measures against any official or employee who would violate his orders.
Meanwhile, Shakshak asked the directors of the general departments, technical offices and branch managers to adhere to what was stated in the statement of the Litigation Department regarding the suspension of the judicial order issued by the South Tripoli Court, while taking into account the instructions of the “head of the Legal Bureau and no one else,” referring to himself.