The elections scheduled on December 24 last year were postponed due to disagreements over electoral law and the candidature of interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah

This was the second such attempt by Fathi Bashagha loyalists to get hold of capital Tripoli since he was elected by the Libyan parliament in February as prime minister.

This was the second attempt by Fathi Bashagha to get hold of capital Tripoli since he was elected as prime minister by the Tobruk-based Libyan parliament in February

The UN Security Council in a meeting on Monday discussed the latest developments in Libya and the future of the peace process which has been stalled for months now over the delay in holding national elections 

Differences over the draft constitution and the electoral law have raised fresh fears of resumption of fighting between the different factions in Libya. The country has faced a decade-long war following the NATO-led invasion in 2011

While Bashagha was appointed as prime minister this year in February by the Tobruk-based Libyan parliament, the Abdul Hamed Dbeibah-led government has refused to resign and hand over power

Prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has refused to step down despite the Libyan parliament electing Fathi Bashagha as his replacement

Though the UN had initially supported the Government of National Unity (GNU) led by interim prime minister Abdul Hamied Dbeibah, the special advisor on Libya to the UN secretary general, Stephanie Williams, has now refused to take sides and has called for talks

The current interim government led by prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has refused to step down and has vowed to fulfill its mandate of conducting elections and only concede power to an “elected authority”

The election of the new prime minister may widen the political rift in Libya and prove detrimental to the UN-led peace process designed to end the decade-long war in country which started with the NATO-led invasion of 2011

The eastern based-parliament announced that candidates can start submitting their applications for the role of interim prime minister. The move came just over a month after the presidential elections scheduled for December 24 were postponed

The state of elections in Libya is unclear after yet another deadline expired this week. Meanwhile, the future of the UN special mission in Libya (UNSMIL) also hangs in the balance due to differences between the US and Russia