Two governments for Libya and, between one and the other, the country without sweeping. Thousands of people came out in various cities of the country to demand elections and to denounce the political inaction of the two entities that govern them: on the one hand, the Unity Government (GUN) of Tripoli; and on the other, the parallel executive created with the approval of the country’s president, Aquila Salé. In Tobruq, protesters stoned and set fire to the facade of the Parliament to the cry of “resignation” of the deputies. Since February, political instability has led to blockades of oil production, almost the only source of income for the country. The paralysis in the management of inflation and the continuous power cuts do not help either. All this makes it impossible to agree on a deadline to hold the elections suspended in December.
Libyan deputy Amar al Ablaq told Efe that “the street movement” is the result of “fed up by worn-out institutions” and asked to elect a new legislative authority, to advance in a constitutional referendum.
“The right of the people to protest peacefully must be respected and protected, but riots and acts of vandalism such as the storming of the House of Representatives in Tobruk are totally unacceptable,” the UN special adviser for Libya said yesterday. , Stephanie Williams, who mediated unsuccessfully this week in Geneva between rival institutions to advance an electoral call.
On Thursday, Williams announced the failure to close an agreement and hold elections in the country. Youths wearing yellow vests protested the next day in the capital, Tripoli, and demonstrations were also held in Benghazi, Sirte, Shaba and Zauiya.
The protests focus on the deterioration of living conditions and extend from areas related to the GUN of Tripoli, but also to other supporters of the parallel Executive, backed by the Parliament of Tobruq.
This House – supervised by Khalifa Haftar, a strong man from the east of the country – appointed Fathi Bashaga in February as Prime Minister parallel to Abdulhamid Dbeiba, of the GUN, the last Executive agreed in Libya under the auspices of the UN in February 2021 after years of division.
Faced with the sine die postponement of the December elections, the Chamber considered that Dbeiba’s mandate had expired and appointed a new Executive led by Bashaga. The first announced elections for June, and the second, within a year.
But the pulse continues to stall the political transition in Libya, international geopolitical board through foreign mercenaries, since the overthrow and assassination in 2011 of the despot Muammar Gaddafi, after 42 years in power.
Dbeiba opted yesterday for the holding of elections that, for the time being, have not been called. Bashaga, for his part, has also expressed his commitment to an electoral process that legitimizes some of the executives competing for power.
