In the end, the new institutional division of Libya was brought about with a simple show of hands. The members of the House of Representatives in the government seat of Tobruk in the east of the country decided on Thursday to elect former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha as the new prime minister. His only opponent had withdrawn at short notice.
Libya now has two heads of government because at the same time Abdulhamid Dbeibah ruled out his resignation. The head of the internationally recognized “government of national unity” said he would only relinquish power after a nationwide election. Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States supported this position in December after a first presidential election was canceled at short notice. In the past few weeks, UN Special Advisor Stephanie Williams has been trying to find a new roadmap for elections in June, if possible. The House of Representatives in eastern Libya, controlled by Speaker Aguila Saleh, is now thwarting these efforts by electing Bashagha.
Since the fall of longtime dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has repeatedly been shaken by conflicts that threaten to tear the country apart. For years after a civil war, there was a government in the east and a government in the west, each with their own troops and international supporters. The presence of 25,000 foreign mercenaries – for example from Syria, Russia, Chad and Sudan – stands in the way of a peaceful solution.
A warlord and a dictator’s son ran for the presidential election – the vote never even took place
And a legal basis acceptable to all sides was never created for the unification process initiated last year, including elections for the presidency and parliament. Shortly before the election date on December 24, the electoral commission announced that it could not publish a list of applicants. Several highly controversial candidates had been put forward, including the warlord Khalifa Haftar, the son of long-time dictator Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and Prime Minister Dbeibah. The latter, a powerful businessman from Misrata, had actually only agreed to act as an interim solution – but then apparently took a liking to power and the economic opportunities arising from it. Haftar and Gaddafi had meanwhile been excluded from the election by a court because they were accused of serious crimes.
Already on Wednesday hundreds of people took to the streets in Tripoli against the foreseeable election of Bashagha in Tobruk. Prime Minister Dbeibah warned that his dismissal would return the country to “division and chaos” after two years of relative calm. On Thursday, members of the House of Representatives not only voted to remove him from office, but also to create a new electoral commission and a committee to draft a new constitution.
With his election as counter-Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha is continuing his political reorientation. During the battle for Tripoli in the civil war, the politician, also from Misrata, opposed Khalifa Haftar’s troops. But now the leadership of Field Marshal Bashagha’s army pledged their allegiance on Thursday. “Even if he himself will probably portray his election as political pragmatism, Bashagha is a man without principles who is primarily concerned with prestige and power,” says Anas al-Gomati. The founder of the Sadeq Institute, a Libyan think tank, believes the consequences of the new division will initially be difficult to predict: “The potential for renewed fighting is there, even if neither side is interested in it.” A military solution to the conflict had not been achievable by either side during the civil war. Al-Gomati thinks that Bashagha and Aguila Saleh could first try to win over militias based in the west of the country “by offering money and favors”.
Meanwhile, an attack was carried out on Prime Minister Dbeibah on Thursday, before the election. The media reported that he was on his way home when shots were fired at him from another vehicle. One of the bullets went through the windshield of his limousine. The prime minister and his driver were not injured. According to sources close to the PM, the bullets were fired from a handgun, possibly a Kalashnikov. There was initially no letter of confession. At first, one could only speculate about a connection to the election of his successor or competitor as head of government on the same day.