Libyan lawmakers approve new transitional government

On Tuesday, Libyan lawmakers confirmed a new transitional government. The cabinet was submitted by Prime minister Fathi Bashagha to the east-based House of Representatives.

Libyan lawmakers approved a new transitional government on Tuesday. Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha submitted his cabinet to the eastern-based House of Representatives, where 92 of 101 lawmakers in attendance confirmed it in a vote broadcast live from the city of Tobruk.

The move fuels division in a country where two Prime ministers claim legitimacy. PM designate Bashagha faces embattled PM Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who has repeatedly refused to cede power before the organization of presidential and parliamentary elections in June. Earlier this month, Dbeibah proposed a four-point plan to hold a simultaneous parliamentary vote and referendum on constitutional amendments late in June.

After the vote, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said he wanted to build a unified Libya: "I didn’t come for revenge or to settle accounts, but I came to build, build this homeland, which requires everyone's involvement. We reach out to everyone, including the opposition, the other side that does not want us."

Following Bashagha's appointment Libyans protested in various cities. His nomination raised fears it would smash to pieces the 2015 UN deal to form a unity government that Libyan rival factions had signed. 

The new government includes twenty-nine ministers and six ministers of state.

Libyans celebrated in mid-February the 11th anniversary of its revolution but a future remains uncertain.