Libya’s parallel government of Fathi Bachagha accused his rival Abdulhamid Dbeibah of preventing several ministers from attending his swearing-in ceremony on Thursday (March 3) in the eastern parliament of Tobruk.
Fathi Bachagha, appointed by the Tobruk Parliament to replace “Dbeibah whose mandate has expired,” has referred to the prosecutor to denounce the blockage of his ministers in Tripoli. He’s accusing the incumbent government of Abdulhamid Dbeibah of having closed Libya’s airspace to prevent some members of his cabinet from traveling.
Parliament granted its confidence to the new Bachagha cabinet. A process described as “blatant” fraudulent procedure, without a quorum, according to Dbeibah, who claims that some MPs considered as voters were absent from the session.
Plagued by civil war since the death of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya is once again mired in a major political crisis as it finds itself with two rival prime ministers in Tripoli.
Outgoing Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, backed by the United Nations, said he “will not accept any new transitional phase or parallel authority, ” adding that “his government will remain in office until elections are held and that it will only hand over to an elected government.”
For his part, his rival Fathi Bachagha, former Minister of the Interior between 2018 and 2021, has the support of the Tobruk-based Parliament and its influential Aguila Saleh. He is especially sponsored by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of the oil-rich east of the country, supported by Russia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.
The return to constitutional order, rich in oil and gas, was derailed after the failure to hold presidential and legislative elections on December 24, 2021. Since the postponement, Libyan political actors have agreed on virtually nothing to set a new election date.
CD/lb/abj/APA