Libya Court Defines HoR Majority Based on Active Members
Published By Regional Desk
Court ruling on majority calculation
Libya’s Supreme Constitutional Court has issued a ruling on how to calculate the absolute majority of the House of Representatives. The Court’s decision, reported by the eastern-based state news agency LANA, came in response to a request for legislative interpretation submitted by Osama Hammad, head of the Benghazi-based Libyan Government.
The ruling comes amid ongoing efforts to stabilise Libya’s divided parliamentary institutions.
Legal basis clarified
The Court determined that the calculation must be based on the actual number of members legally retaining their parliamentary status, excluding vacant seats. It clarified that the determining factor for the absolute majority is the number of legally incumbent members, rather than the total number of seats allocated for the House’s membership.
Numbers and resulting majority
According to the House of Representatives’ rapporteur, the number of members effectively retaining their parliamentary status is 160, which makes the absolute majority 81 members.
Background to the request
The request for interpretation followed a controversy sparked by a House session in which 98 out of the 102 attending members voted to amend the House’s internal regulations and activate the parliamentary session. This occurred prior to the election of Al-Salheen Abdel-Nabi on 6 October as Speaker of the House within the new leadership body.
Al-Salheen Abdel-Nabi was subsequently elected as the new Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives.
