TRIPOLI, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based House of Representatives, or parliament, on Monday rejected the decision of the Tripoli-based Presidential Council to create a new agency for national referendums and inquiries.
"This decision exceeded the powers of the Presidential Council ... and transcended to parliamentary jurisdictions that require broad national consensus," the House of Representatives said in a statement.
"Besides the fact that it violates the Constitutional Declaration, the decision of the Presidential Council is a serious and unjustified step, and we demand the Presidential Council to withdraw it immediately, and we confirm the invalidity of this decision," the statement said.
The Presidential Council on Sunday issued the decision to create a new agency to implement and supervise national referendums and inquiries.
Libya, an oil-rich country, is politically divided between eastern and western governments. Each administration is backed by armed groups and militias. ■