GENEVA, 6 February, 2021 (TON): On Friday, delegates from Libya’s warring factions chose four leaders to guide the North African country through the national elections in December.

The step is seen as a major move forward for integrating a nation with two rival governments in the east and west.

In the UN hosted process, 74 delegates selected a list of candidates aimed to give balance to the regional powers and various political and economic interests.

Mohammad Younes Menfi, a Libyan diplomat with a support base in the country’s east, was chosen to head the three-person Presidential Council. Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, a powerful businessman backed by western tribes, was chosen as interim prime minister.

The process, Libyan Political Dialogue Forum held for choosing an interim authority to oversee Libya as part of an effort to effort to rebuild state institutions and lead to national elections on 24 December, 2021.

Menfi's list was elected in a runoff as none of four lists initially proposed secured the required 60% of votes from the delegates in the first round.

U.N. secretary-general’s acting special representative for Libya, Stephanie Williams said, “I am pleased to witness this historic moment,” addressing delegates upon the announcement of the results. “The decision that you have taken today will grow with the passage of time in the collective memory of the Libyan people.”

The representative stressed that the transitional government must fully support the ceasefire and upholds the date of the elections. She added that the new executive authority must launch “a comprehensive national reconciliation process."

Libya has been divided between two governments since 2015, one in the east and another in the west of the country backed by a vast array of militias.

Both the parties were convinced by the UN to sign a cease-fire agreement and gather on a political platform.

The voting was taken place under the UN in hopes of bringing stability to the country that has been largely without any law since Moammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.