Mohamed Hammouda, spokesman for Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU), denied Saturday to TASS that Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh had resigned.
"The statement that has appeared is not true," he said.
Earlier, Dbeibeh released a statement announcing his decision to resign in the interest of the country. "In these difficult conditions that the country is experiencing <...> amid the discord, internal and external conspiracy forces, rampant armed groups, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh has decided to resign," the official statement, signed by the prime minister, reads. - "It was taken after a thorough examination of the situation in the country in the interests of Libyans and in the supreme national interest of the country, as well as to avoid bloodshed in the state and in the capital - in particular".
Fathi al-Marimi, an adviser to the president of the House of Representatives (parliament), told TASS on Saturday that the announcement of Dbeibeh's resignation from his post is being circulated informally. "However, there has been no official notification of the prime minister's resignation," he said.
Libya's new transitional government led by Fathi Bashagha was sworn in Thursday in Tobruk in the east. He said after the ceremony that "all options and measures to resolve the crisis of transfer of power in Tripoli" were being explored, and later called on state institutions, the country's oversight and judiciary not to implement Dbeibeh's orders, "as his term of office has expired."
On February 10, the Libyan parliament elected Bashagha as Libya's new prime minister. Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh was adamant that the mandate of the GNU, whose main purpose was to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections, ended on December 24, even though the elections never took place.
Disagreements between the parties
Differences between the Libyan parties threaten to lead to a new diarchy and risk provoking another round of armed confrontation in the North African country. Dbeibeh has repeatedly warned that he would not resign and would only hand over the reins of power to his successor after general elections. On February 21, in an address to the nation, he announced a plan to hold parliamentary elections in Libya this June and postpone the presidential election until a permanent constitution for the country is adopted. According to the GNU head, only his government has the authority given to it by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum to prepare for the elections.
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Based on materials from TASS