The Libyan House of Representatives, meeting in Tobruk (east of the country), unanimously chose - today, Thursday - former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha as the new head of the government, while the current Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, adheres to the continuation of his government, in implementation of the outcomes of the political dialogue forum.
Parliament spokesman Abdullah Blehaq told the German News Agency that the House of Representatives voted by an absolute majority of 126 votes out of 147 deputies who attended today, Thursday.
The Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, Aqila Saleh, said that the House had received a letter of recommendation from the Supreme Council of State (a consultative parliament) supporting the candidacy of former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha to head the new government.
Saleh added during the session, "I was informed that (candidate) Khaled Al-Bibas will withdraw," calling on the deputies to wait until the latter comes to the parliament hall.
At that point, the live broadcast of the session was interrupted.
Dabaiba insists on continuing to head the government, based on the fact that the Political Dialogue Forum set the term of the transitional executive authority at 18 months, extending until June 2022, according to the United Nations mission in Libya.
Yesterday, Wednesday, Dabaiba stressed that his government is continuing its work, and that it will not allow a "new transitional phase", nor will it allow the dominant political class over the past years to continue for more years.
In a press statement after a meeting with a number of members of the Supreme Council of State in Tripoli, Dabaiba stressed the need to advance the constitutional path in order to reach the elections.
As a result of differences between official Libyan institutions regarding the electoral laws and the role of the judiciary in the electoral process, it was not possible to hold presidential elections last December 24, according to a road map under the auspices of the United Nations.
So far, no new date has been agreed for holding presidential and parliamentary elections that Libyans hope will contribute to ending the conflict in their oil-rich country, where Khalifa Haftar's forces fought for years against the former internationally recognized Government of National Accord.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives announced - during Thursday's session - that a vote was taken in favor of a proposal to amend the "constitutional declaration", by a majority of the members present (without details).
He explained that the proposal provides for “amending paragraph 12 of Article 30 of the Constitutional Declaration, so that a committee of 24 experts and specialists representing the three regions will be formed, to be chosen equally between the (House of Representatives) and the (Supreme Council) of the state, and the committee reviews the articles in dispute in Draft completed constitution and possible amendments.
It also stipulates that “the committee finishes making the amendments within 45 days, and the amended draft constitution is referred directly to the High Elections Commission for a referendum. If the amendments cannot be made after the expiry of this period, a committee formed by the House of Representatives and the state, within a month, prepares a constitutional rule and binding electoral laws.” .