Tripoli - Arab Today
Libya General National Congress (GNC) Former Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan on Thursday denounced a no-confidence vote by his country's parliament that led to his dismissal as a "falsification", in a statement on rolling news channel France24. Zeidan also rejected allegation
of corruption. "There is a falsification and manoeuvering," he said, claiming that only 113 members of parliament had voted for his dismissal, fewer than the 120 needed for a no-confidence vote to be valid.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the no-confidence motion was approved by 124 of the 194 members of the General National Congress, MPs said.
The former prime minister claimed two political groups were behind his removal as premier -- the radical Wafa movement as well as the Justice and Construction Party which is the political arm of the Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Zeidan also dismissed allegations of corruption which have been levelled at him.
"I do not need to defend myself... I challenge anyone to find any trace of corruption in the course of my government," he said in the first reaction since his dismissal.
Although a travel ban was issued against Zeidan, it was reported on Wednesday that he had fled Libya.
He was removed from power after a North-Korean-flagged tanker laden with crude oil from a rebel-held terminal broke through a naval blockade and escaped to sea.
Zeidan, an independent, proved incapable of bringing to heel the former rebel militia that have carved out their own fiefdoms since the 2011 uprising that toppled the dictatorship of Moamer Kadhafi.
Source: AFP