#Other countries : Libya found itself on Thursday, following a controversial vote in Parliament, with two Prime Ministers, one of whom saw his convoy targeted by gunfire, a sign of an exacerbation of tensions in a country already undermined by the struggles of power and political chaos.
On his arrival Thursday evening at Mitiga airport, near the capital, from Tobruk, Bachagha promised «to open a new chapter»in «reaching out to all».
He then «thanked Dbeibah for the work accomplished during this difficult period»saying «confident of the government’s concern to respect democratic principles». This former fighter pilot has two weeks to form a government and submit it to Parliament.
It remains to be seen whether Dbeibah will agree to relinquish power, even though he has repeatedly assured that he will only cede power to a government out of the polls.
>>> READ ALSO: Libya: Parliament appoints Fathi Bachagha new Prime Minister and challenges the government
During the night of Wednesday to Thursday, shots targeted his convoy in Tripoli, without causing any casualties, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Libya was mired in a major political crisis following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011 with rivalries between major regions, power struggles and foreign interference.
In the midst of a civil war, the country was ruled between 2014 and 2016 by two rival prime ministers in the West and in the East.
“Parallel Authority”
After years of armed conflict, the Dbeibah government was set up a year ago, under the aegis of the UN, to lead the transition until the presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for last December and postponed indefinitely. .
This postponement had been decided once morest a backdrop of persistent disagreements between a power in the East, embodied by Parliament and Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and another in the West, around the government of Tripoli and the High Council of State.
>>> READ ALSO: Libya: shots target Prime Minister’s vehicle
As this postponement loomed, Bachagha – one of western Libya’s most prominent presidential candidates – approached the rival camp by traveling to Benghazi. There he met Haftar, a strongman from eastern Libya and leader of the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (ANL).
The ANL has also welcomed Thursday the appointment of Bachagha as Prime Minister.
Parliament, which believes that Dbeibah’s mandate expired with the postponement of the elections, had selected two suitors to replace him: Bachagha, 59, and outsider Khaled Al-Bibass, a former senior civil servant.
Before proceeding with the vote, Speaker of Parliament Aguila Saleh, one of the main rivals of the Dbeibah government, claimed that Bibass had withdrawn his candidacy.
Quoted by Libyan media, Bibass denied having withdrawn his candidacy.
Bachagha and Dbeibah, both from the west of the country, each have the support of armed groups in Tripolitania.
>>> READ ALSO: Libya: the head of Parliament calls for a “definitive” date for the elections
«I will not accept any new transition phase or parallel authority»Dbeibah warned in a televised address on Tuesday, saying his caretaker government would hand over power only to «an elected government».
The UN has indicated through its spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric that it will continue to support Dbeibah.
At the start of the session in Tobruk, parliament also voted to extend its mandate by 14 months, which theoretically expired in December.
The House of Representatives is considered the preserve of Aguila Saleh, a cacique from the East accused of having violated all the procedures to appoint Bachagha.
“Accomplished”
Observers say he derailed the political process by promulgating a tailor-made election law in September without a vote for his ally Khalifa Haftar, who was also running for president.
«Many see today’s events in Libya – where a new prime minister has been fabricated in an attempt to shore up some political factions – as a fait accompli.»commented on Twitter Tarek Megrisi, analyst at the European Council on International Relations.
