Libya unity thrown into chaos as MPs reject UN-backed government

At a session at the parliament headquarter in the eastern city of Tubrug on Monday, 89 out of 104 members voted against the newly formed government.

Libya has had two rival administrations and parliaments since August 2014, when a well-armed alliance of militias took over the capital Tripoli and forced the internationally recognized government to retreat east.

Under the agreement, a nine-member PC was named and tasked with selecting the national unity government.

The Tobruk parliament also approved the Skhirat agreement as a political deal provided that article number 8 – related to sovereign posts in the government, including military occupations – is deleted, giving the presidential council ten days to reshuffle the cabinet or replace the PC with another.

Military forces from Britain, US and Russian Federation have arrived in Libya to support the new UN-backed government, London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported on Saturday, adding a French one is to follow soon.

Protest against the U.N.to draft agreement talks headed by the Head of United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Bernardino Leon in Benghazi, September 18, 2015.

The United Nations, EU and other powers have been pushing for the UN-backed deal to go into effect.

Since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the north African country has been struggling to make a democratic transition. Controversial army commander, General Khalifa Haftar remains so far one of the main bones of contention between Libyans and a hurdle to unity government.

Monday’s decision comes with concern mounting in western capitals over the expansion of Islamic State, which has launched attacks over the past week on the country’s oil ports, setting storage tanks ablaze in Ras Lanuf, Libya’s largest refinery.

The head and members of the rival Tripoli-based General National Congress also oppose the deal.