BENGHAZI, Libya —
Libya's parliament on Monday began
hearings of hopefuls to replace interim prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, a
process that could spark new east-west power struggles in the troubled North
African nation.
اضافة اعلان
Dbeibah's government took power a year ago
with a mandate to lead Libya to December elections aimed at dragging the
country out of a decade of conflict.
But since the polls were indefinitely
postponed amid deep divisions over their legal basis and controversial
presidential candidates, parliament speaker Aguila Saleh has led efforts to
have Dbeibah replaced.
Both eastern-based Saleh and Dbeibah, in the
western capital Tripoli, were presidential candidates.
Dbeibah has said he will only hand power to
an elected administration.
Saleh's House of Representatives, based in
eastern Libya since a violent schism in 2014, said two out of seven candidates
had made it through to the final round.
Powerful former interior minister
Fathi Bashagha,
59, and outsider Khaled Al-Bibass, 51, a former official in the interior
ministry, will face a parliamentary vote on Thursday.
Bashagha told the assembly that he wanted to
unify divided state institutions, improve security and revive the country's dismal
public services. He also vowed not to stand for future elections.
Bibass said he would work to overcome the
country's divisions and fight inflation.
Libya has seen a decade of conflict since
the 2011 revolt that toppled dictator
Muammar Gaddafi, leaving a patchwork of
militias vying for control over an oil-rich country riven by deep tribal and
regional divisions.
Thursday's vote could see a repeat of a 2014
schism which saw two parallel governments emerge.
The parliament also adopted a
"roadmap" towards elections, which looks set to delay the polls
further.
It says they must take place within 14
months of an agreement on another divisive issue -- a new constitutional
declaration.
Gaddafi scrapped
Libya's last constitution
when he seized power in 1969.
The assembly is not fully united, and some
members have called for Dbeibah to stay in office until elections are held.
The
UN has also called for a new date to be
set for presidential polls rather than yet another transitional government.
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