Libya’s parliament gives confidence to Dbeiba’s cabinet 

Mustafa Kamel

The Libyan parliament approved yesterday the cabinet lineup proposed by Libyan Prime Minister-designate Abdul- Hamid Dbeiba.

The parliament also gave the new government confidence, which signals an end to an almost-decade long unrest in Libya. The move also opens the door for holding elections in December.

The new national unity government will take the constitutional oath at the headquarters of the Libyan House of Representatives in Benghazi (the permanent seat of parliament) on Monday, March 15.

The term of the government will end on December 24, the date of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

It will then function as a caretaker government until the end of the elections.

Giving confidence

The Libyan city of Sirte witnessed a meeting on March 8 that took place for the first time after years of war and chaos.

MPs convened to give confidence to the new national unity government in the light of the roadmap that was supervised by the United Nations mission.

After consultations that lasted for three days, the parliament succeeded in holding a full-fledged formal session that gave Dbeiba’s government confidence to act and exercise its duties.

The MPs discussed the formation of the national unity government proposed by Dbeiba.

Opinions diverged between those encouraging the granting of confidence, and those opposing the number of portfolios included in the government.

Some MPs called for the outcomes of the Tunis Dialogue – which produced the new executive authority – to be included in the constitutional declaration.

Internal changes

After the session was postponed for a second time, Dbeiba decided to introduce changes to the cabinet lineup.

This came after a large number of MPs expressed reservations about a number of ministers due to their incompetence or their association with ideological figures.

The changes extended to the post of deputy prime minister. He decided to appoint Hussein al-Qatrani instead of Saqr Boujwari.