News / North Africa

Libya parliament rejects UN deal on unity government

Monday, 25 January 2016 4:55 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 25 January 2016 7:12 PM ]

This December 6, 2015 photo shows two members of Libya’s internationally recognized House of Representatives signing documents after reaching an agreement on ending the political deadlock in Libya. (AFP photo)

Libya’s internationally-recognized parliament has rejected a political agreement and a deal on establishing a unity government in an apparent blow to efforts by the United Nations to settle the conflict in the country.

The media office of the legislature, which is based in far-eastern Libya, said on Monday that 90 out of 140 members of the House of Representatives rejected the proposal of a Unity Cabinet by the UN.

Essa al-Areibi, a member of the legislature, said that 84 also rejected an accompanying political agreement with rival authorities based in the capital, Tripoli.

Both agreements came last week after months of negotiations between the rival establishments. Some members in both camps had supported the deals and the UN had urged the internationally-recognized parliament to endorse the achievement.

Since the ouster and killing of Libya’s long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been ruled by two governments, one based in the city of Tobruk, which is backed by the international community, and the other backed by an array of political and militant groups, which has been ruling Tripoli.

The UN had warned that the rejection of the agreement by the parliament could further fuel the militancy in the oil-rich North African country. Libya’s central town of Sirte is currently controlled by the Daesh Takfiri group, another source of concern for neighboring countries and European states, which have already felt the repercussions of insurgency and an increasing flow of refugees emanating from Libya.

Sources said the UN-sponsored political deal was rejected in the parliament due to a controversial article which stipulates that military chief General Khalifa Haftar be dismissed from his post. Once an army commander under Gaddafi, Haftar defected to the opposition and then declared a coup against the Tripoli government in 2014. He was also in charge of the “Operation Dignity,” a campaign against militants in Benghazi and elsewhere in the east.

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