Libyan Parliament Backs Unity Government, Advancing Peace Plan

LIBYA’s long-divided parliament on Wednesday approved an interim government mandated to bring the fractured country together after a decade of chaos and violence, and to oversee elections in December as part of a U.N.-backed peace plan.

The parliament’s approval of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh’s cabinet by 132 votes to two against, at a session in a war-battered frontline city, represents the biggest opportunity in years for a resolution to Libya’s conflict.

“Through this vote, it became clear that the Libyans are one unit,” Dbeibeh told parliament afterwards.

However, huge hurdles remain and the manner of Dbeibeh’s own appointment and the size of his cabinet have drawn criticism in Libya with accusations of corruption and influence peddling that spoilers could leverage to deny his legitimacy.

On the ground, Libya’s streets, businesses and state institutions remain in the shadow of myriad armed factions and split between two rival administrations, while foreign powers