Libya's new PM to unveil team in first hurdle of transition

TRIPOLI — Libya's prime minister-designate Abdul Hamid Dbeibah is set to name a transitional government on Thursday tasked with unifying the war-torn nation and leading it to elections in December.

Dbeibah, himself selected earlier this month in a UN-sponsored process, will deliver his line-up to Libya's presidential council, before it is submitted to parliament for approval at a venue and date that have yet to be agreed, a member of his office said late Wednesday.

Libya is commemorating 10 years since the start of the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime dictator Muammar Qadhafi, plunging the country into a decade of violence and political turmoil.

Libyans processed through the capital Tripoli waving the national flag on Thursday as part of celebrations marking the anniversary.

Today, the oil-rich North African nation is split between two rival administrations, as well as countless militias.

Emadeddin Badi, an analyst at the Geneva-based Global Initiative, warns that Dbeibah faces a rough ride ahead.

While his appointment "temporarily" resulted in support across Libya, he said, those left out "will undoubtedly mobilise to hinder support for his administration".

The new team aims to replace a Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Fayez Al Sarraj, and a parallel cabinet in eastern Libya backed by military strongman Khalifa Hafter and parliament.

It faces the daunting challenge of addressing the grievances of ordinary Libyans, hit by a dire economic crisis, soaring unemployment, wretched public services and crippling inflation.

Dbeibah, a 61-year-old engineer and businessman who once held posts under Qadhafi, was selected on February 5 by a forum of 75 Libyan delegates at UN-led talks in Switzerland.

An interim three-member presidency council -- selected alongside Dbeibah -- is to head the unity administration.

The premier has until March 19 to win approval for his cabinet, before tackling the giant task of unifying Libya's fractured institutions and leading the transition up to December 24 polls.

Critics at home, foreign powers 

Dbeibah has said his selection of ministers was based on "criteria of competence, diversity and inclusion".

Under a UN roadmap, at least 30 per cent of top government posts -- ministers and deputy ministers -- must be filled by women and young candidates.

The UN special envoy for Libya, Jan Kubis, held talks Wednesday on the telephone with Dbeibah, the UN mission said.

Dbeibah has to win over not only critics at home, but foreign powers with competing interests in Libya.

The GNA, backed by Turkey, has been pitted against forces loyal to Haftar in the east, backed by Egypt, Russia and the UAE.

Significantly, Dbeibah's first visit abroad was to Egypt, Libya's powerful neighbour. He has also held talks with the influential speaker of parliament, Aguila Saleh.

The House of Representatives, which never recognised the legitimacy of the GNA, is itself split.

In 2019, 50 deputies staged a boycott in protest at Saleh's support for an aborted bid by Haftar's forces to seize Tripoli that was followed by a UN-brokered ceasefire last October.

Now deputies can't even decide where to convene for the vote on Dbeibah's team.

Saleh wants to hold the session in Sirte, half-way between east and west, but the majority of lawmakers prefer Sabratha, west of Tripoli.

If a quorum for parliament is not met, the 75 delegates who took part in the Switzerland talks would vote for the executive.

Badi remains pessimistic.

"What we are likely to witness is a war by other means -- jockeying over foreign support, sovereign positions, ministerial portfolios... This politicking will... likely culminate in another conflict," the analyst said.