Libya govt meeting soon to back power-sharing plan: speaker

Libya’s internationally recognized parliament will meet “in the coming weeks” to give its backing to a UN-backed unity government aimed at ending chaos in the country, its speaker said Sunday.

An agreement for a power-sharing unity government was inked in December by lawmakers from Libya’s rival parliaments but neither administration has so far formally backed the UN-brokered accord.

“The parliament will meet in the coming weeks to consider an amendment to its constitutional declaration to give a vote of confidence to the national unity government,” Aguila Saleh said during a visit to Cairo.

Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognized parliament to flee to the country’s east.

The head of a UN-backed administration, prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj, arrived earlier this month in Tripoli after weeks of delay to begin garnering support for his government.

He struggled however to assert his authority as the unofficial authority in control of Tripoli said it wouldn’t support Sarraj’s government after initially indicating its backing.

The unity government needs the internationally recognized parliament’s approval before its mandate begins.

Libya’s warring rivals have come under intense international pressure to rally behind the unity government at a time when the country is grappling with a growing militant threat.