Libya's Prime Minister Is Embarrassed by Rebels, Then Ousted by Parliament

Libya’s General National Congress (GNC) sacked Prime Minister Ali Zeidan on Tuesday, in the latest sign of the government’s unraveling control over the country.

The no-confidence vote that ousted the prime minister followed a prolonged standoff between Zeidan and rebels in the eastern region of Barqa. On Tuesday, a group called the Petroleum Defense Guards completed its first successful international oil sale against Tripoli’s will, when a North Korean tanker left the seized port of Es Sider with a $38-million cargo of crude oil.

While the Libyan navy originally intercepted the vessel on Monday, it subsequently lost control of the tanker as it sailed away into international waters — an embarrassment for Zeidan’s government that precipitated his downfall.

The prime minister’s problems started long before the North Korean-flagged “Morning Glory” docked at the rebel-held port of Es Sider, however. Heavily armed militias calling for federalism have been in control of some of the country’s largest oil fields and ports for months now, and many Libyans have criticized the government’s failure to rein them in.

During the weekend, Zeidan threatened to bomb the tanker if it left port with the precious cargo. Then on Monday the GNC ordered the formation of a military force to retake all rebel-held oil ports. It is still unclear if the operation, which was planned for this week, will continue.

On Tuesday, unconfirmed reports also emerged that the “Morning Glory” caught fire after being hit by a missile while sailing in international waters. A military spokesman told Reuters that Libyan gunboats chased the tanker along the country's eastern Mediterranean coast and opened fire, damaging it.

Zeidan, a human rights lawyer, was appointed prime minister after Libya’s first election in more than 40 years in 2012, nine months after Gaddafi was toppled. But his government was slow to bring change to a country divided by civil war. Zeidan himself was briefly kidnapped by militiamen last fall, a further signal of the instability of his government.

“During Zeidan’s term, security was at its worst,” Abdel Moneim al Hour, a leader of the militia responsible for the kidnapping, told VICE News earlier this year. “There was corruption in the highest places.”

Defense minister Abdullah al Thini was nominated as acting prime minister for a period of two weeks after Zeidan's removal from office on Tuesday. But the GNC has itself been facing challenges to its legitimacy — and was stormed by angry protesters armed with knives and sticks earlier this month. Two legislators were shot and wounded in that incident, allegedly by a former rebel group operating under the GNC’s command.

“It’s not been a very stable time for the GNC,” Anas el Gomati, a political analyst and the founder of Libya’s Sadeq Institute, told VICE News. “They’re not very popular.”

El Gomati added that an interim prime minister won’t be able to achieve much.

While welcomed by some, Zeidan’s ousting does not bode well for Libya’s stability. Three years after the revolution that deposed former dictator Muammar Qaddafi, the country remains in chaos.

“With his death, came a mad scramble for power,” said VICE News correspondent Suroosh Alvi, who was in Libya earlier this year, referring to the former dictator. “More than 300 heavily harmed militias were slicing Libya up into a patchwork of fiefdoms, and after decades of repressive rule the militias clearly weren’t going to bow down to any form of central government."

There are twice as many people armed in Libya today as there were at the end of Gaddafi’s regime, el Gomati told VICE News.

“Many militias have been in charge of various strategic areas: the ports, the airports, the oil installations, which is the economic backbone of this country,” he said. “The government doesn’t really have a grip on things that really make it a government.”

El Gomati said that the ousting of Zeidan is an “opportunity” for the rebels.

“The more important currency for them is legitimacy,” he said. “They’ll try to assert legitimate political control.”

Follow Alice Speri on Twitter: @alicesperi