After voting in favour of a UN-sponsored peace deal with an overwhelming majority in December, Libya’s internationally recognized parliament (House of Representatives) in Tobruk voted to reject the United Nations-backed unity government (Government of National Accord). Out of the 104 members attending the session, 89 voted against the proposal. The main reasons for opposing the proposal are fears that powerful army chief General Khalifa Haftar will be removed from his post. The rival parliament (General National Congres) in Tripoli also opposes the agreement. Western nations see the unitary government as a condition for their military deployment in the country to tackle the growing threat of the so-called Islamic State (IS).

The House of Representatives would continue to exist as a legislature and an advisory body, to be known as the State Council, and would be formed with members nominated by the General National Congress. Following the occupation of Tripoli by armed Islamist groups during the Second Libyan Civil War, the House of Representatives relocated to Tobruk in the far east of the country. In May 2014, the divisive General Khalifa Haftar, a Gaddafi-era defector back from exile as a CIA informer living in the United States, set his Operation Dignity forces in Benghazi against armed groups including the Benghazi Revolutionaries' Shura Council, a coalition of islamist fighters among which those accused of killing US Ambassador Christopher Stevens in 2012. In late 2014 the New General National Congress was proclaimed as a rival parliament in Tripoli.

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For more information on Libya's political path since the civil war and the creation of the two governments, click here.