Lawmakers in Libya approve first unified government in 7 years

Bloomberg

Libyan lawmakers approved the country’s first unified government in about seven years, overcoming a major hurdle in a fragile political reconciliation that’s supposed to end almost a decade of conflict.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly backed Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah’s proposed transitional administration during a third joint session of the North African nation’s two rival assemblies.
The new cabinet, made up of 26 ministries, will have to work quickly to bridge political divides and restore key services in the Opec member that’s been in turmoil since a Nato-backed revolt ousted dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi in 2011. The country has been split into dueling eastern and western administrations since 2014.
Dbeibah, an influential businessman chosen as premier by delegates to a United Nations-supported forum in Geneva, will work alongside a three-member presidency council in an administration that’s supposed to rule until elections in December.
Other challenges may come from attempts to rein in the country’s myriad heavily armed militias and from other powerful figures who feel they’ve been sidelined by the UN-backed process.
A unified government could mean stability for oil in Libya, which is home to Africa’s largest reserves but has seen output stall due to repeated fighting and closures. The chairman of the National Oil Corp, Mustafa Sanalla, told Bloomberg Television that production will increase to 1.45 million barrels per day by the end of 2021.