Libyan gov’t to remain in office until elections: PM

Tripoli, Libya | Xinhua | Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah on Tuesday said his government will remain in office until elections are held, and will only hand over to an elected government.

“We will not allow new transitional phases and will not abandon our role in the Government until the elections are held. The Government of National Unity will continue working until handing over office to an elected government,” Dbeibah said in a televised speech.

Dbeibah accused “a political class” of dominating the country over the past years by “issuing decisions in the Libyan House of Representatives,” and “continuing to falsify decisions without oversight and accountability,” and of attempting to create political division and chaos in the country.

The prime minister also accused the “political class” of failing the elections “without even clarifying the reasons for not holding the elections.”

Dbeibah made the remarks two days ahead of a vote in the House of Representatives for a new prime minister.

House of Representatives Speaker Aguila Saleh has said Dbeibah’s government expired and called for appointing a new one.

The House of Representatives withdrew confidence from the government in September last year and kept it as a caretaker government.

Dbeibah was appointed as the prime minister of the Government of National Unity in February by the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum to end years of political division in the country.

Libya had been expected to hold general elections on Dec. 24, but the elections were postponed indefinitely due to technical and legal issues, according to the country’s High National Elections Commission.

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Xinhua