The Libyan parliament in Tobruk witnessed skirmishes before voting to choose a new prime minister to succeed Abdel Hamid Dabaiba.
Dabaiba was appointed in March as head of the UN-backed government of national unity, which was meant to unify the country’s divided institutions and oversee the run-up to elections in December as part of a peace process.
The House of Representatives considers the Dabaiba government “out of mandate” due to the postponement of the elections last December, which announced that the reason for the postponement was “force majeure”, according to the Electoral Commission.
However, Dabaiba said in a speech this week that he would not hand over power until after elections, and the United Nations special adviser on Libya and Western countries said the legitimacy of the national unity government remained.
Parliament said this week that there will be no elections this year.