Appointed as part of a peace process sponsored by the UN, Abdelhamid Dbeibah refuses to leave power. It is true that his interim government was scheduled to last until the holding of elections which have still not taken place! For the Parliament, elected in 2014, this delay in the elections effectively put an end to the mandate of Abdelhamid Dbeibah.
This term ran until December 24, 2021, the date set for the presidential election. That it did not take place does not change the matter, according to the Parliament. A new government had to be appointed. What was therefore done on March 1st by recognizing Fathi Bashaga as Prime Minister, by 92 votes from the 101 members of Parliament present that day. A show of hands orchestrated by the speaker of parliament, Aguila Saleh, a cacique from eastern Libya. A process disputed by Dbeibah who speaks of “obvious fraud in the vote count”. Some members claim that their vote was recorded while they were absent.
For his part, Fathi Bashaga said he had made arrangements with the “security and military authorities” to install his government in Tripoli. 29 ministers, three deputy prime ministers and six ministers of state: a government deemed to be bloated which illustrates the need to “rake” wide to establish Bashaga’s legitimacy. The negotiations were tough, especially with the clan of Marshal Haftar.
“And here we have Libya back to square one with a ‘national unity’ government in Tripoli under Dbeibah whose legitimacy is questionable at best, and another government coercively approved by parliament in the east”reacted for his part Emadeddin Badi, researcher at the Global Initiative think tank, quoted by AFP.
Suffice to say that all the ingredients are there for us to witness a new conflagration of the country. If Dbeibah failed to organize the poll expected on December 24, it is because of the permanent quarrels, in particular the repeated appeals against certain candidates. Also because of a permanent climate of insecurity which made it impossible to organize elections.
According to Reuters, “opposing armed groups have mobilized in the capital in recent weeks”. Recall that Abdelhamid Dbeibah was a candidate for the presidential election, just like Fathi Bashaga, but also Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of Cyrenaica (East).
Two members of the new government were reportedly arrested and detained by an armed group as they traveled by road to Tobruk for the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday 3 March. If no side is designated, Fathi Bashaga complains about the obstacles posed by the former government. It would even have closed Libyan airspace.
The United Nations, which wanted and supported the electoral process for the aborted presidential election, has for the time being refrained from commenting. This is however the first hitch against a fragile peace obtained in 2020.