Thousands of Libyans rallied on Friday in mass demonstrations in the capital Tripoli, as well as in Misrata, Sabratha and other areas in western Libya.
Protests and internal and external pressures are tightening the noose around Libya’s Government of National Unity, pulling the rug out from under Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who is struggling to remain in office indefinitely.
Thousands of Libyans rallied on Friday in mass demonstrations in the capital Tripoli, as well as in Misrata, Sabratha and other areas in western Libya, demanding the departure of the Government of National Unity, all political bodies, and the dismantling of armed militias.
In Martyrs’ Square in central Tripoli, massive crowds raised images of those in power and held banners calling for the overthrowing of the Government of National Unity in Tripoli, the parallel government in the east, the House of Representatives, the High Council of State and the Presidential Council.
Protesters chanted: “Leave!” “The keys to the state are in the people’s hands!” and “No East, No West, Libya is national unity.” They also called for an end to corruption and the dominance of militias and armed groups.
Through their chants and signs, protesters expressed their rejection of the legitimacy of the current political entities and their refusal to accept the ongoing political system. They demanded an end to the transitional phases and the holding of elections to allow the people to determine their fate and choose a legitimate authority.
The Chairman of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi, called on all Libyans to continue their peaceful demonstrations in various cities, in order to build a modern state that reflects everyone’s hopes, as he put it.
Menfi added in a post on his X account that he was proud of the civilised national scene presented by the demonstrators in Tripoli by reasserting the right to peaceful expression.
He also praised the role of the security institutions in protecting this right, securing the people, and respecting their opinions by all means to achieve positive change.
Unlike the protest that took place on may 16, the security forces succeeded this time in securing the protests and preventing them from veering into violence by protesters or suppression by security forces.
Protesters, on Friday, have not ruled out resorting to civil disobedience if official disregard continues. They called on all Libyan cities to join the protests, urging national unity and rejecting all forms of foreign interference in an effort to save Libya from chaos and disintegration.
Libyan sources have earlier said that Dbeibah has succeeded in infiltrating the protests and their organisers by shifting their goal from overthrowing his government to overthrowing all political bodies.
This currently seems illogical, will not be approved by the international community and will be seen as a call to perpetuate chaos and push the country into a political vacuum.
These sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Arab Weekly, noted that Dbeibah’s infiltration remains limited compared to the scale of the protests and the number of participants.
Political activist and presidential candidate Suliman Albayoudi considered that the massive popular demonstrations that took place in Martyrs’ Square in the capital, Tripoli, represented a radical shift in the Libyan political landscape.
He emphasised that the international community is now dealing with the post-Dbeibah government phase and is seriously considering ways to form a new executive authority.
He added that the crowds that took to the streets on Friday numbered nearly 100,000, confirming that the pace of popular mobilisation is increasing and that there is local and international support for the people’s right to demonstrate and express their demands, which include ending the political deadlock and moving towards a new phase.
Observers believe that the Dbeibah government is facing a massive wave of popular anger and that the tensions are not limited to the capital, Tripoli, but rather extend to all regions of the country, including Misrata.
This suggests that protests will likely escalate in the coming days and that civil disobedience will be considered to force the international community to end the current political deadlock.
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