Libya’s political turmoil set to worsen with two prime ministers

The chaos-stricken country once again finds itself with two claims to authority

Fathi Bashagha (L) and Abdul Hamid Dbeibah (R) (The Independent)

Libya has been thrown into further political chaos and confusion after the country’s eastern-based parliament elected a new prime minister just hours after the interim incumbent was reportedly the victim of a failed assassination attempt.

Fathi Bashagha, who served as interior minister of the Tripoli-based government, was elected prime minister following a stormy session of the eastern-based parliament, even as Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the current prime minister, refused to be replaced.

Sources close to Mr Dbeibah claimed earlier on Thursday that gunmen shot at his armoured car. The assailants escaped and Mr Dbeibah was unhurt. Libya’s chief prosecutor has launched an investigation into the attack, according to sources.

The election of Mr Bashagha by the eastern Libya-based House of Representatives is a major setback for the country, which has strived for years to unify itself but now is again suddenly divided, with its leadership contested.

The United Nations oversaw the process to pick Mr Dbeibah as interim prime minister ahead of elections that were scheduled for December but then postponed. It has urged Libyans to concentrate on holding a vote rather than naming an interim authority.

Libya has been in a state of perpetual chaos and crisis since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that felled Muammer Gaddafi’s four-decade dictatorship.

The country has been divided between eastern authorities headed by warlord Khalifa Haftar and a loose coalition of militias rooted in cities, towns and tribes of the west.

Persistent violence and lawlessness, along with several major wars, have damaged the country’s oil industry and sent Libyans fleeing abroad.

The elevation of Mr Bashagha by the eastern parliament could potentially divide the west and help buttress the position of Haftar or Aguilah Saleh, speaker of the House of Representatives and the man who engineered Thursday’s vote. Mr Dbeibah, a businessman who has served as interim prime minister since March, has vowed to stay in office until elections.

“I will not allow a new transitional period,” he said in a speech on Tuesday. “The Government of National Unity will continue until handing over power to an elected administration.”

Mr Saleh, Mr Dbeibah, Mr Bashagha, Mr Haftar, and Saif al Islam Gaddafi, son of the late leader, were all seeking the post of prime minister in the now-delayed election.