Libya’s General National Congress has rejected a cabinet line-up submitted by prime minister-elect Mustafa A.G. Abushagur.

"We voted to reject the government proposed by Abushagur and to grant him until Sunday to present a new line-up," AFP quoted Abdelali al-Dersi, who represents the eastern Libyan town of al-Bayda in the legislature, as saying on Thursday.

"The government didn't represent all the sectors or regions of Libyan society. It was thrown together arbitrarily and on the basis of friendships," Dersi noted.



Abushagur, the country’s former deputy prime minister, was elected premier after narrowly defeating Mahmoud Jibril in a runoff election held by the 200-seat assembly on September 12.

Libyans elected the legislative body on July 7. The assembly is tasked with appointing a new interim government, which will rule until new parliamentary elections after the drafting of a new constitution.

The country’s first peaceful transition of power in decades took place in an official ceremony in Tripoli on August 8 when the assembly took over from Libya’s National Transitional Council almost a year after the revolution that toppled long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyans rose up against Gaddafi in February 2011 and deposed him in August 2011. He ruled for more than four decades without a legislature.
Press TV