Libya's eastern-based parliament has voted to suspend its appointed prime minister, Fathi Bashagha, according to the parliament spokesperson Abdullah Belhaiq.

On Tuesday, it was announced his finance minister Osama Hamada would be assigned his duties and there would be an investigation into Bashagha.

The parliament appointed Bashagha in 2022 but he has proven unable to enter the capital Tripoli or take over from Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, who rejected his appointment.

Bashagha told AFP in July that he planned to take office in Tripoli "in the coming days." His efforts ended in clashes between factions aligned with him and others aligned with Dbeibah, and he has had to operate outside Tripoli with no control of state finances.

Since his failed attempts to force Dbeibah out, Bashagha has been based in the central city of Sirte.

Dbeibah was appointed as part of a United Nations-backed peace process to end more than a decade of violence and with the aim of holding elections that year, but the vote was cancelled amid disputes over the rules.

The eastern-backed administration argued Dbeibah had outlived his mandate, but he refused to hand over power before elections.

Abdoulaye Bathily, head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya last month said there was a "historic opportunity" to tackle the political crisis in Libya following consultations between political, security and other figures.