The move is expected to intensify political differences in the country, as current Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dabaiba has pledged to stay in power.
A source close to Dabaiba said that he survived the assassination, as bullets hit his car in the early hours of Thursday morning before the parliament vote, while no official or public statement has been issued so far to confirm this.
The House of Representatives also approved, by an absolute majority, the constitutional amendment, which paves the way for the resumption of the faltering political roadmap.
Parliament is seeking to chart the country’s political future, after the collapse of elections scheduled for December, saying that Dabaiba’s interim government “is no longer legitimate and may not continue its work.”
On Tuesday, Dabaiba said he would cede power to an elected government, but rejected moves by parliament to choose a replacement.
Analysts say that the result of Thursday’s steps may be a return to the division that appeared to have ended last March, with the installation of a national unity government headed by Dabaiba.
Before that, two competing governments operated in the west of the country, and in the east, each supported rival factions.
The UN Special Adviser on Libya and Western Countries says the legitimacy of the national unity government headed by Dabaiba remains in place, and urges the House of Representatives to focus, instead, on moving forward with elections.
About 3 million Libyans were registered to vote in the December elections, and the political conflict and delay that followed angered and frustrated many of them.
Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh said that about 132 parliament members attended Thursday’s session, which is enough to complete the quorum, and television footage shows the parliament hall nearly full.
