MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - Libya’s interim government headed by Prime Minister Abdullah Thani has resigned to allow the new parliament to form a new cabinet, Reuters reported Friday citing a Libyan lawmaker.
“This is just a routine step. There is no conflict between Thinni and the House of Representatives,” a lawmaker was quoted as saying. “Thinni is a candidate to form the next government.”
According to the agency, Thinni’s cabinet said it had resigned according to Libya’s constitutional rules to allow the House of Representatives to form a government based on all parts of society.
Earlier this week, the General National Congress (GNC) replaced by the new parliament elected in June, named pro-Islamist Omar Hassi a new prime minister and charged him with forming a new government.
Thinni had been in power since March. For security reasons the government moved to the city of Tobruk, located in some 600 kilometers (360 miles) east of the country’s capital.
Libya is currently facing its worst wave of violence since the 2011 overthrow of the country’s long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi and the subsequent civil war. Clashes between government forces and Islamist-allied militias, armed with weapons seized from Gaddafi government ammunition depots, have been ongoing in the country for months. Many countries are evacuating their citizens and diplomatic staff from the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier on Monday that the current political chaos in Libya is triggered by the attempts of the United States and its NATO allies to "forcefully democratize the country."
