Protesters have stormed Libya's parliament forcing it to postpone a vote on a new Cabinet. The incident highlights the ongoing struggle new leaders face to bring the country under full control.
About 100 civilians and self-proclaimed rebels broke in the building of the National General Congress on Tuesday facing little resistance, AP reports.
The men left the hall after Interim President Mohammed al-Megarif talked to them, but then returned again. The protesters, who took issue with the ministers nominated, forced the new Prime Minister Ali Zidan, to postpone the vote. Among other complaints was that some nominees had links to the deposed regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
Al-Megarif complained that the lawmakers are being pressured. “Let Libyans know the atmosphere in which we operate,'' the interim president said. “The least we can say about what happened is that it is pressure on the Congress members.”
The 200-member National General Congress was elected by popular elections in July and replaced the National Transitional Council a month later as the country’s ruling body. But as well as the former NTC the new legislative authority still struggles to reign in numerous armed groups and militias in a country thwart by tribal and sectarian rifts that followed the last year’s civil war.