Members of Libya’s High Council of State (HCS) called on the outgoing Prime Minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba to handover the government’s headquarters to the Parliament-designated PM, Fathi Bashagha.
In a statement on Monday, the HCS members stated that “the period for the roadmap has expired, and therefore the mandate of the Dbaiba government has ended.”
They welcomed the consensus reached between the bilateral constitutional committee that was held in Cairo.
“We call on the outgoing Prime Minister to assume his moral and legal responsibilities to expedite the smooth handover of the former government headquarters to the new Libyan government,” the statement said.
“We call upon the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the international community to respect and support the consensus that was reached between the HCS and the Parliament,” they added.
The HCS members also urged UNSMIL and the international community to recognize the new government, as the legitimate authorities in Libya.
In March, member of the HCS, Abdel-Salam Al-Safrani stated that the initiative of the UN Envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, “has reached a dead end.”
Al-Safrani added that the only way out of the political impasse, is “through the 12th constitutional amendment, or approving the Libyan Parliaments initiative to form a new government and draft a constitution. This will then be to put it to a referendum, at a later date.”
“This is the best settlement that can be implemented, and lead us to elections,” Al-Safrani concluded.
On 10 February, the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Ageela Saleh announced the unanimous appointment of Fathi Bashagha as the new Prime Minister. But incumbent PM, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba warned that the appointment of a new interim government could lead to war and chaos in the country. He renewed his pledge to only hand power over to an elected government.