The Libyan House of Representatives unanimously chooses Fathi Bashagha as the new head of the government
The Libyan House of Representatives, meeting in Tobruk, in the far east of the country, unanimously chose on Thursday, former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha, as the new head of government to succeed Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba, in a controversial vote that would fuel the power struggle in Libya.
The parliament's spokesman, Abdullah Belhaq, said in a press statement that the parliament "voted unanimously to grant confidence to Mr. Fathi Bashagha, as prime minister."
The head of the interim Libyan government, Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba, had said that he would not allow the establishment of a new transitional phase, and that he would not accept the establishment of a "parallel" authority.
On the other hand, the House of Representatives considers Dabaiba's government "out of term" due to the postponement of the elections.
The House of Representatives had retained two candidates out of seven: Bashagha (59 years old) and Khaled Al-Bibas (51 years old), a former senior employee in the Ministry of Interior.
Before the vote, Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh said that Al-Bibus withdrew, leaving Bashagha as the only candidate.
The House of Representatives did not broadcast the voting process live as scheduled.
But the vote on Bashagha's selection was preceded by broadcasting the session for less than an hour.
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