UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for stability in Libya after the country’s east-based parliament named a new prime minister, his spokesman said Friday. The appointment is already reigniting divisions in the war-torn country.
Guterres’ appeal seems to reflect a more neutral position than the U.N.’s initial support for the current interim prime minister based in the capital, Tripoli, in western Libya.
The east-based lawmakers on Thursday appointed former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha to replace Abdul Hamid Dbeibah as head of a new interim government, a development that could undermine U.N. efforts to reconcile the country, long divided between rival administrations in the east and west.
On Friday, dozens of protesters gathered in central Tripoli to oppose Bashagha’s assuming the post of premier. They called for the parliament in the eastern city of Tobruk that appointed him to be dissolved.
Asked about Bashagha’s appointment on Thursday, the U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said “yes” when asked whether the U.N. still recognized Dbeibah, whose job was to steer the country to elections. They had been scheduled for Dec. 24 but were postponed over disputes between the rival factions on laws governing the elections and controversial presidential contestants.
On Friday, Dujarric at first gave a more nuanced statement, saying Guterres is following the situation in Libya closely. His special adviser, Stephanie Williams, is on the ground and has been contacting the parties “trying to keep the process on track,” the spokesman said.
Guterres “takes note” of Thursday’s vote in the House of Representatives in Tobruk to designate a new prime minister,” Dujarric said. “The secretary-general further calls on all parties to continue to preserve stability in Libya as a top priority.”
“He reminds all institutions of the primary goal of holding national elections as soon possible in order to ensure that the political will of the 2.8 million Libyan citizens who registered to vote are respected,” Dujarric said.
Later Friday, Dujarric was again pressed on whether the U.N. still recognizes Dbeibah.
“There’s a prime minister, currently, Mr. Dbeibah,” Dujarric said. “And I’ve mentioned, we’ve taken note that the relevant Libyan institutions have voted for another person to be prime minister-designate, who is reportedly to form a government in the coming weeks.”
The decision by the east-based lawmakers has raised fears of a return to the divisions in Libya, which plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed 2011 uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
In April 2019, east-based military commander Khalifa Hifter and his forces, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive to capture Tripoli, where the U.N.-supported government is based. Hifter’s campaign collapsed after Turkey and Qatar stepped up their military support for the Tripoli government with hundreds of Turkish soldiers and thousands of Syrian mercenaries.
Mediated by Williams, then a U.N. envoy, an October 2020 cease-fire led to the formation of a transitional government with Dbeibah as prime minister and scheduled elections for Dec. 24 which are now postponed. Lawmakers have argued that the mandate of Dbeibah’s government ended on that date.
Dbeibah has maintained that his government would not leave power without first overseeing national elections. He repeatedly warned against what he called attempts to reignite the country’s conflict, and compared the parliament’s decision to the year-long siege on the capital of Tripoli.
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Associated Press writer Adel Omran in Tripoli, Libya, contributed to this report.
