Libyan Parliament approves budget amid political rift

TRIPOLI, Libya

The Libyan Parliament on Wednesday approved a budget for the government of Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha amid a political rift in the country.

“The 89.6 billion Libyan dinars ($20 billion) budget was unanimously approved,” the parliament’s spokesman, Abdullah Blihaq, said in a statement.

The government of Bashagha, a former interior minister, was appointed by the Parliament in March. The Tripoli-based government of incumbent Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, however, refused to step down.

Ever since, Bashagha has been unable to enter Tripoli and his government has been doing its work from the coastal city of Sirte.

Addressing lawmakers, Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh said the government's presence in Sirte aims to "save Libya.”

"The government whose budget is approved today was not formed in exile, but was formed under the dome of Parliament,” Saleh said. “No party has the right to object to this government or prevent it from carrying out its work," he added.

Dbeibeh insists that he will only cede authority to a government that comes through an “elected parliament.”

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat