Fathi Bashagha, designated by Libya's east as prime minister, said Wednesday he will not use force to take office in Tripoli despite the incumbent's vow to hold onto power.
Parliament will swear in Bashagha as prime minister Thursday but the head of the current interim government, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, has refused to cede control, raising the prospect of fighting.
"There will be no use of force, neither by us nor the existing government," Bashagha told Reuters in an interview.
"Tomorrow the oath will be taken before the House of Representatives and then I will go to Tripoli," he said, adding that there would be arrangements to ensure a "normal and smooth" transition.
The struggle over control of Libya's government after the collapse of a scheduled election in December threatens to return the country to conflict and division that have prevailed for much of the period since a NATO-backed revolution in 2011.
Interim Prime Minister Dbeibah was installed a year ago through a United Nations-backed process and says his government remains valid and he will only cede power after a rescheduled election that he says he will hold in June.
In a televised speech on Wednesday, he accused parliament of seeking to sabotage the election and said "what they called a government will never work in reality and will not have a place."
Parliament has declared that Dbeibah's term expired when the December election did not take place as planned, and the chamber has instead chosen Bashagha to lead a new transition with elections to follow next year.
Parliament's position is backed by the eastern-based putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar who waged a 14-month war on Tripoli from 2019 to 2020. Armed factions in the capital and western regions appear divided over the crisis, with some saying on Tuesday they opposed parliament's move to install a new government.
Bashagha, a former interior minister, said he was committed to holding elections within the time frame next year set out by Parliament, adding that he wanted to achieve agreement between rival political institutions on the issue.
Disputes over basic rules for the election led to the collapse of the planned vote in December.
Meanwhile, the United Nations voiced concern Thursday over reports that a vote in Libya's parliament to install a new government, a move that may trigger new fighting or a return to territorial division, "fell short of the expected standards."
An emailed statement from the U.N. secretary general's spokesperson said there were reports that the vote did not meet standards of transparency and procedure, and that there were acts of intimidation before the session.
The U.N. is instead focused on renewing its push for elections, the spokesperson said, adding that U.N. Libya adviser Stephanie Williams will soon hold talks between Parliament and an opposing political body, the High Council of State.
"I am here to support the electoral process and the aspirations of 2.8 million Libyans," Williams said on Twitter. "I reiterate the fundamental importance of preserving security, stability and unity, and refraining from acts of escalation provocation and violence," she added.
Neither the political nor the military coalitions that are crystallising now exactly match those that fought from 2014 until a 2020 truce, but any new conflict would again likely pit eastern forces against a combination of western groups.
Dbeibah has rejected the parliament's stance and says he is planning to hold national elections in June. Both sides blame each other for the failure of December's election and accuse each other of lacking legitimacy.
On the other side, an armed force linked to Libya's incumbent prime minister seized two ministers of the rival government that was to be sworn into office on Thursday, two sources close to Bashagha told Reuters..
Bashagha said late on Wednesday that Dbeibah in the capital Tripoli had also closed off Libyan airspace to stop new ministers from flying to Tobruk to take the oath of office.