Vote of No Confidence Against Libya’s ‘Unity Government’

Unity Govt Insists That's Unconstitutional

Libya’s UN-backed “unity government,” which controls a small portion of Tripoli, has lost a no-confidence vote today in Libya’s UN-backed parliament, which controls most of the smallish city of Tobruk, further to the east. The vote was 61-39, with a quorum present.

The unity government, however, insisted this was “cheating” because they didn’t know the vote was going to happen on Monday, though it does not appear they would’ve had enough to sway the vote their way either way.

Under the UN design, the three largest extent governments would be unified under this “unity” government, with the Tobruk parliament as the national parliament, and the Tripoli parliament serving in a consulting position. None of the groups has endorsed the others, however, which has left the UN and the US threatening everyone else, demanding they endorse the “unity” government’s positions.

The Tobruk parliament, however, said that the unity government lacked qualifications to lead, had achieved nothing of note in its brief existence, and was overtly fighting against the Libyan Army, which is mostly loyal to Tobruk.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.