The United Kingdom will continue to recognize the Government of National Unity, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, despite having its nine-month mandate expired on December 24.
The announcement was made by the British embassy in Libya via its social media accounts on Friday.
“The UK continues to recognise the Government of National Unity as the authority tasked with leading Libya to elections and does not endorse the establishment of parallel governments or institutions,” the embassy stated via Twitter.
2- As per the LPDF Roadmap and the LPA, the #UK continues to recognise the #Government_of_National_Unity as the authority tasked with leading #Libya to #elections and does not endorse the establishment of parallel governments or institutions.
— UK in Libya🇬🇧🇱🇾 (@UKinLibya) December 24, 2021
This comes after Libya’s House of Representatives and the High National Election Commission (HNEC) abruptly called off the presidential elections two days before its scheduled date on December 24.
The parliament cited “technical, judicial and security” obstacles which it claimed would make it “impossible” to hold the first round of presidential polls.
The postponement of the elections put the fate of Dbeibeh’s government in limbo for various reasons. The parliament passed a no-confidence motion against the unity government on 21 September, thus effectively turning the interim authority into a caretaker.
Furthermore, Dbeibeh entered the election race as a presidential candidate in late November without resigning from public office in violation of Libyan electoral laws. The Libyan premier was had been warned by the United States that “candidates campaign separately from their public position or office,” according to a statement by the U.S. embassy in Libya.