Libyan parliament elects new PM

Source: Al Jazeera America

Libya's National Conference elected 42-year-old businessman Ahmed Maiteeq as the new prime minister on Sunday with 120 votes, second deputy speaker of parliament Saleh al-Makhzoun told the Reuters news agency.

After a chaotic session of parliament, Maiteeq was initially reported to have mustered only 113 votes of the 120 needed under the constitution in a vote of confidence. But al-Makhzoun said Maiteeq had in fact clinched 121 votes, apparently after a recount, beating off challenger Omar al-Hassi, a university professor.

Libya's 185-seat interim parliament has been deadlocked and unable to impose authority after Abdullah al-Thinni resigned as prime minister three weeks ago, citing an attack by gunmen on his family. Thinni resigned just one month after his election, when he replaced Ali Zeidan who was voted out of office after rebels humiliated the government by shipping crude on a tanker without government permission. The tanker was ultimately seized by US forces and returned to the country.

Libya has seen a severe deterioration in security since the end of Muammar Gaddafi's decades-long rule in 2011.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/05/libyan-parliament-elects-new-pm-201454135721191517.html