The Libyan House of Representatives, which is holding its sessions in Tobruk (east), decided to hold an official session in the city of Sirte (central) in support of the government assigned to it headed by Fathi Bashagha, which decided to exercise its functions from there instead of the capital, Tripoli, which it failed to enter.
This came in an official session of the House of Representatives yesterday, Tuesday, according to what was stated by the spokesman for the Libyan House of Representatives, Abdullah Blihaq, on the official Parliament page on Facebook.
The move represents the clearest acknowledgment since Parliament appointed Bashagha last March of his inability to control Tripoli so far, at a time when Libya is still constrained by a crisis caused by the presence of two governments.
The stalemate between Bashagha and Abdelhamid Dabaiba, who was appointed prime minister last year, threatens to ignite a new round of conflict in Libya after two years of relative peace, or split it again between two rival camps.
Each of the two parties is supported by armed factions, and any attempt by Bashagha to force his way towards Tripoli may lead to the outbreak of fighting in the western regions of Libya.
Blihaq said that the parliament voted to hold a session for the next period (the date has not been set) in the city of Sirte in support of the government to start its work from the city of Sirte.
The current Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dabaiba (right) and the Prime Minister-designate by Parliament Fathi Bashagha (French - Reuters)
Tasks and disputes
A week ago, Bashagha announced that his government would exercise its duties from the city of Sirte when fighting was expected while it was trying to enter the capital, Tripoli.
Bashagha said in a statement at the time that his government is interested in carrying out its duties from the capital, Tripoli, without shedding a single drop of blood, but if there is the possibility of a single drop of blood falling to reach that, it will perform its duties from the city of Sirte.
Regarding the parliament session on Tuesday, Abdullah Belhaq said that the parliament listened to a briefing on the work of the committee to amend the draft constitution in the Cairo meetings.
On April 18, a joint committee of the House of Representatives and the state formed according to an international initiative to lay down a constitutional basis for elections concluded its initial discussions after 6 days of meetings in Cairo, while the UN advisor Stephanie Williams, who is managing that dialogue, announced May 15 as the date for the resumption of this dialogue. meetings of that committee.
The initiative announced by Williams on the third of last March came in light of mounting fears that the country would slide into civil war after an incident split against the background of the inauguration of the House of Representatives Fathi Bashagha as prime minister of a new government instead of the national unity government headed by Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, who refuses to hand over power except For a government that comes according to a new elected parliament.
Libya has enjoyed little peace since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, and was divided in 2014 between warring factions in the west, where the capital is Tripoli, and in the east, where parliament moved.