BENGHAZI, Libya —
Libya’s parliament announced Monday it would meet next week to pick a
replacement for interim Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, potentially
escalating tensions between the country’s eastern and western factions.
اضافة اعلان
The announcement, a
month after planned elections were abandoned amid bitter arguments over their
legal basis, lays bare once again the extent of divisions between eastern and
western factions in the war-torn country.
Spokesman Abdallah
Bliheq said the assembly, based in the country’s east, was ready to start
examining applications for the role, and that candidates would face hearings in
the house on February 7.
A session will take
place the following day to select the winner, he said.
The UN has been
leading efforts to help move the North African country past a decade of chaos
following the 2011
NATO-backed uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Dbeibah’s
government had a mandate to lead the country to December 24 elections — in
which he was a candidate despite having committed to not running.
Since the polls
were cancelled, parliament speaker Aguila Saleh, also a presidential hopeful,
has led calls to replace Dbeibah, arguing his mandate is over.
The parliament, in
the eastern city of Tobruk, had already passed a no-confidence motion against
Dbeibah’s government in September, a vote rejected by an upper house based in
the capital.
The assembly had
published criteria last week for applicants to the role, without setting a
deadline for their appointment.
The
UN, western
powers and even some members of parliament have called for Dbeibah to stay in
his role until elections, for which a new date has not yet been set.
Bliheq on Monday
called for “certain ambassadors” and the UN’s top representative in Libya,
Stephanie Williams, “not to interfere in Libyan affairs”.
Dbeibah has
repeatedly said he will only hand power to an elected government.
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