Hundreds of protesters flooded the streets of Tripoli on Friday, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and an insistence on holding national elections. The demonstrations, which are based in Martyrs’ Square, included chants like “The nation wants to overthrow the government” and “We want elections,” indicating increasing anger at political deadlock and renewed fighting in the capital.
Protesters demonstrated outside the central Tripoli government building, carrying pictures of Dbeibah, National Security Adviser Ibrahim Dbeibah, and Interior Minister Emad Tarbulsi with his face blacked out in red. “We won’t leave until he leaves,” one protester chanted, using the rallying slogan of the movement.
Dbeibah, the leader of Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Unity, took office in 2021 via an internationally supported peace process. Elections scheduled for the same year were, however, postponed indefinitely because of political stalemates, enabling him to prolong his stay in office past his anticipated term.
It sparked public outrage after clashes between opposing armed factions in Tripoli earlier this week turned violent and resulted in the deaths of eight civilians, reports the United Nations. The conflict broke out after Dbeibah issued an order to dissolve militias, a move critics describe as too little, too late.
As a reaction to the demonstrations, three ministers Economy and Trade Minister Mohamed al-Hawij, Local Government Minister Badr Eddin al-Tumi, and Housing Minister Abu Bakr al-Ghawi resigned.
Militia commander Abdulghani Kikli, alias Ghaniwa, was said to have died in the clashes, which ended following a government-announced ceasefire on Wednesday.
Libya has been politically divided ever since the 2011 NATO-backed revolution that deposed Muammar Gaddafi. Although the east is under the control of Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army, Tripoli and the west are still divided among vying armed groups.
Oil production the economic lifeblood of Libya has remained untouched despite the unrest, with engineers at south and east fields confirming operations continue.
