CAIRO — The top UN official for Libya on Friday urged the country’s divided factions to refrain from violence and agree on a framework for the future. Libya is split again, with two rival governments vying for power after attempts to unite last year after a decade of civil war.

Stephanie Williams, the UN special adviser on Libya, has called on lawmakers to appoint 12 members to a committee that will work to break the political deadlock.

“The solution to the Libyan crisis does not lie in the formation of rival administrations and lasting transitions,” tweeted Stephanie Williams, the UN’s special adviser on Libya. “Libyans must agree on a consensual way forward that prioritizes the preservation of the country’s unity and stability.

Lawmakers in the eastern city of Tobruk were sworn in on Thursday in a transitional cabinet, with Fathi Bashagha as prime minister. His government is meant to replace that of Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

Dbeibah was appointed in a UN-led process in February 2021 on the condition that he lead the country until elections due to be held in December. The vote never took place, triggering pressure to replace him with Bashagha.

Dbeibah maintains that he will only hand over power to an elected government and has proposed a four-point plan to hold a simultaneous parliamentary vote and referendum on the constitutional amendments at the end of June.

The appointment of Bashagha, a powerful former interior minister in the western city of Misrata, is part of a roadmap that also involves constitutional amendments and sets an election date within 14 months.

The postponement of the elections was a blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in the oil-rich Mediterranean nation.

According to Williams, once lawmakers appoint a committee, it will meet on March 15 under UN auspices for two weeks to work on a constitutional framework for the elections. She said her invitation has been extended to lawmakers from the country’s two parliamentary chambers, which have been split between rival governments. Williams said she would wait for their response.

Libya has been unable to hold elections since its disputed legislative vote in 2014, which saw the country split for years between rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by armed militias and foreign governments.

Williams also called on Libyans to refrain “from all acts of escalation, intimidation, kidnapping, provocation and violence.”

After being sworn in on Thursday, Bashagha told parliament in the eastern city of Tobruk that armed groups had abducted the new ministers of foreign affairs, culture and technical education – and shot others who were on their way to the swearing-in ceremony. The reports could not be independently verified.

Bashagha’s government issued a statement on Friday, saying two of the ministers had been freed thanks to the intervention of security agencies. No other details were provided, including who was behind the abductions. The statement quoted Bashagha as condemning such “unlawful acts”.

We don’t know what happened to the third minister.

Also on Friday, the International Crisis Group warned there were signs the situation could escalate into a military confrontation, citing reports that armed groups allied to the Tripoli-based government had closed Libyan airspace to prevent ministers to travel to Tobruk to participate in Bashagha’s Swearing-in Ceremony.

The group urged the international community to adopt a unified position on Libya. “What happens next will largely depend on the reaction of foreign powers,” the statement read. “A splintered international response could encourage institutional splitting and military mobilization.”