68 HoR Members Reject 'Inquorate' Benghazi Session, Threaten Breakaway Leadership, as Saleh Pushes Through '4+4' Committee Vote

Libya's House of Representatives, convened by Speaker Aguila Saleh in Benghazi on Monday, September 14, 2026 — its first official session in over eight months — voted to adopt the UNSMIL-brokered '4+4' committee's final recommendations on the High National Elections Commission, including appointing a new HNEC board chairman and adding two board members. But only around 30 of the chamber's 200 elected members attended, and 68 members issued a statement rejecting the session as legally 'inquorate,' arguing the constitutionally required quorum of 87 deputies was not met. The boycotting members accused Saleh of running the HoR 'as his personal fiefdom' rather than an independent institution, having gone eight months without convening a session, and threatened to hold their own session — chaired by the chamber's eldest member — to 'elect a new leadership that respects the will of the House' if the pattern continues, declaring that 'legitimacy is not imposed through a fait accompli but is derived from respect for the law and the will of the members.' A separate statement signed by 63 members welcomed the substance of the '4+4' committee's outcomes (which 111 lawmakers had earlier endorsed) but said they would not attend any session until the House's internal procedural bylaws are amended first. Neither statement disputes the election roadmap itself; both target Saleh's control over when and how the chamber convenes.