Libya set to name new prime minister as stand-in clings to power
Interim leader Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh vows to defy Thursday’s vote to replace him
Tripoli — Libya’s interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh said he would defy a planned vote in parliament to replace him on Thursday, raising the prospect of two rival governments running in parallel.
Dbeibah has repeatedly said the transitional Government of National Unity (GNU) that he heads remains valid despite the collapse in December of a planned election process, and has rejected moves by the parliament to take control of it.
“I will not allow new transitional periods. We will not retreat from our role in government that we pledged to the people until elections are achieved,” Dbeibah said in a speech on Tuesday.
At stake is a UN-backed peace process including a ceasefire that has held since summer 2020, with rival armed forces mobilising in Tripoli over recent weeks.
The parliament, which was elected in 2014 and mostly sided with eastern forces during the civil war, has called the GNU invalid and on Monday adopted a new road map including a new interim government before elections in 2023.
The UN Libya adviser and Western powers have said they still recognise the GNU and have urged Libya’s competing factions and political institutions to prioritise early elections rather than a new transitional period.
Libya has had little peace or stability since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi and was split after 2014 between warring camps in east and west, each with its own government.
Dbeibah was installed as prime minister through a UN-backed peace process on the understanding his government would oversee the run-up to presidential and parliamentary elections in December that would create a more lasting administration.
However, he reneged on a pledge made when he was appointed prime minister that he would not run in the December election and his candidacy was one of the main controversies that eventually brought the process to collapse.
Dbeibah on Tuesday said he had started consultations to begin a new election process in June.
Reuters