House of Representatives defies Libya's interim government, appoints new prime minister

Far from putting on track the political transition sponsored a year ago by the United Nations, Libya is only going backwards on the roadmap drawn up at the time, whose objective was to hold elections and begin to rebuild a state fragmented since the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 in the framework of the Arab Spring. But the deep institutional division between East and West has offered a new episode to almost definitively overturn the last attempt at unity.

Fathi Bashagha, former interior minister during Fayez al-Sarraj's Government of National Accord, was appointed Thursday by Libya's House of Representatives as the new interim prime minister to the detriment of the current head of government, Abdul Hamid Dbeibé. Elected in March to lead the transitional period, the businessman was scheduled to serve until the 24 December presidential elections, which did not take place.

The legal vacuum in which Dbeibé has ruled since then has led to a new rift between the eastern and western administrations. From where the Tobruk House of Representatives, led by a sort of bicephaly between Speaker Aguila Saleh and General Haftar, and the National Unity Government in Tripoli, led by Dbeibé himself and the Presidential Council, vie for power. The parties remain in a power struggle.

Like other figures such as Haftar and Dbeibé, Bashagha also presented his candidacy in the December elections, and aspired to the Libyan presidency. But the fighter jet instructor will have to be content for the time being with being appointed by the Libyan Council of Deputies, whose appointment will not be recognised by the international community and will in any case be limited to the eastern part of the country.

However, Bashagha's election has not been without controversy. The Speaker of the House of Representatives declared that the election of the former minister was "unanimously agreed by those present" minutes after the Speaker of Parliament, Aguila Saleh, confirmed that his opponent for the post, Khaled al-Bibas, had withdrawn his candidacy. A withdrawal that the unknown challenger denied having submitted, and which led him to accuse Saleh himself of lying to MPs in order to manipulate the vote.

A native of Misrata, like Dbeibé, the 59-year-old ex-military officer was the favourite in the election scheduled by the Tobruk parliament long before presenting the outlines of his project to the chamber. His military record includes a victory against Daesh in 2016; his political record includes experience in the interior portfolio. A record that made him aspire in March 2021 to head the Government of National Unity, but he was defeated by Dbeibé.

Beyond choosing Bashagha as prime minister, the House of Representatives has given the green light to two amendments for the formation of a committee to draft a constitution and a new electoral law. A unilateral action against which Saleh Jaouda, a member of Libya's High Council of State, a consultative body created in 2015, has charged Saleh with sedition and manipulating the country's future.

Hours after surviving an assassination attempt, Prime Minister Dbeibé has defended his continuity in office and has told both the House of Representatives and other Libyan actors that he will only cede power to a government that is elected at the ballot box. The Misrata businessman, who also has ambitions for the presidency, has rejected Bashagha's appointment and made it clear that he will not allow the re-emergence of a parallel authority in the east of the country.

Earlier on Thursday, the convoy in which the prime minister was travelling came under fire, hitting the windscreen of Dbeibé's own vehicle as he was returning to his family home in the capital, Tripoli. The occupants were reportedly unharmed in an incident that is being investigated by the Prosecutor General's Office. The incident coincided with the vote in the House of Representatives and came a day after Dbeibé promised not to hand over power until the next elections.

With little political experience before being elected prime minister in March, the 62-year-old businessman has become a rival to the other factional leaders in Libya. A threat that aims to perpetuate himself in power after the expected elections, as he demonstrated by presenting his candidacy for the presidency, and which worries too many influential actors in the country. Nor is Dbeibé willing to open new stages in the transition process.

After accusing the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, of trying to overthrow his government and instigate a new institutional fracture, the prime minister has opted to use up his mandate until elections are held, although no date has yet been set. To push for the elections, the UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution to extend UNSMIL's mandate until 30 April, which would facilitate the electoral process. This is a crucial turning point to push the transition forward.