Libya’s parliament rejected allegations of corruption to endorse a new unified government in which a woman was appointed as foreign minister for the first time.
Libya has failed to form a stable unified government since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with divisions between the east and west of the country leading to fighting and institutionalized division.
Countries that supported different sides in the civil war welcomed the new government, and the two previous rival governments agreed to dissolve.
Abdelhamid Dbeibah, a 61-year-old businessman from Misrata who is the surprise of the new interim prime minister, praised his success, saying that “the time has come to turn the page on wars and division and move towards reconciliation and construction. It is time to resolve the country’s differences in parliament and not on the battlefield. “
He appointed a lawyer and human rights activist, Najla El Mangoush, as foreign minister, having backed down on promises that 30% of ministerial positions would go to women and then faced an adverse reaction. Five women were nominated from 31 government offices, including the Minister of Justice.
One of the main challenges facing Mangoush, a Benghazi lawyer who specializes in restorative justice, will be trying to navigate around the range of outside actors, including Turkey, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, many of whom are looking for something lucrative oil and reconstruction. She left the country in 2013, two years after the Libyan revolution, to study in the United States.
The Dbeibah government’s endorsement came after Libya’s parliament, the House of Representatives, meeting for three days in the coastal town of Sirte, gave an overwhelming vote of confidence in its new administration.
On Tuesday, he was subjected to a three-hour question and answer session in parliament, in which he said he was the victim of a smear campaign on social media. He admitted that the large size of his government was partly an attempt to ensure that positions were shared geographically. He said he did not know many of the ministers he appointed.
The allegations had revolved around a UN report suggesting that the prime minister had been chosen with votes bought in a corrupt manner, but the official UN report should not be published until March 15, and it is unclear how conclusive the evidence will be. . The UN, desperate to see the success of its high-risk campaign for political reunification, largely ignored the allegations.
In theory, the new provisional government, selected by a 75-member Libyan Dialogue political forum handpicked by the UN mission, should remain in power only until December 24, the date set for national presidential and legislative elections. Many are skeptical that this will happen and some predict that the current speaker of parliament, Aqila Saleh, will try to prevent elections to remain in power.
Dbeibah was more circumspect about removing the 20,000 foreign mercenaries hired by Turkey, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. He said the troops were a dagger in the back of the country, but that he needed to act prudently.
Many diplomats said the new government could only take advantage of goodwill as long as it began to provide public services and was not caught up in factional struggles or rivalries between outside actors.
He still needs parliamentary support and votes to pass the entire 2021 budget, the constitutional referendum law and the local government law. His powers in relation to the army are not clear.
As a sign of their future problems, more than 35 parliamentarians, mainly from the capital Tripoli, boycotted Sirte’s meeting. There was also no military unification to match political unification, and more work is needed to reunify the central bank and other bodies.
The decision means that the national settlement government led by Fayez al-Serraj will be dissolved. Serraj agreed to step aside and there is speculation that he could become the ambassador to the UK, which he visits frequently to see his family.