Libyan PM urges Parliament to approve new govt

Tripoli, March 9 The newly-elected Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has called on the House of Representatives to approve the fresh government.

"I call on the members of the House of Representatives to give priority to the country's interests above all narrow and personal considerations, and enable the government to take on its difficult tasks immediately," Xinhua news agency quoted Dbeibah as saying in a speech on Monday.

"Obstruction, postponement and extension increased the suffering of our people," he said.

The UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) recently selected a new executive authority for the country, which was welcomed by all parties.

The new executive authority's main task is to prepare the country for the upcoming general elections on December 24, 2021, as agreed by the LPDF.

UN Envoy to Libya Jan Kubis on Sunday stressed the importance of holding a session of the House of Representatives to grant confidence to the new Government of National Unity.

For the first time in years, members of the House of Representatives gathered on Monday in the city of Sirte for a session to consider granting confidence to the new government.

Libya plunged into chaos after the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi's government in 2011, witnessing prolonged conflict between the eastern-based Khalifa Haftar-led Libyan National Army (LNA) and the UN-recognised Government of National Accord in the country's west.

Due to the protracted armed conflict, political and economic crises and the coronavirus pandemic, nearly 1.2 million people, including over 348,000 children, require humanitarian assistance in Libya, according to the Unicef.

( With inputs from IANS )