Protesters set fire to the Libyan Parliament building in the city of Tobruk

MADRID, 2 (EUROPE PRESS)

Protesters have attacked and set fire to the headquarters of the Libyan Parliament in the city of Tobruk, in eastern Libya, on Friday afternoon, calling for its dissolution, in the midst of the open political conflict in the country and that once again faces two rival administrations jockeying for power.

Dozens of protesters reportedly gathered in front of the House of Representatives building to demand the dissolution of Parliament, the epicenter of an administration parallel to the unity government, based in Tripoli, and the holding of elections, due to the deteriorating situation in the country .

The country is divided again after the Tobruk House of Representatives terminated the mandate of the prime minister of unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibé, due to the postponement of the presidential elections in December and appointed Fazi Bashaga to the position.

The unity government has rejected the decision of the House of Representatives, which is a blow to efforts to end the conflict, and has maintained that Dbeibé will remain in office, a position supported by the international community.

Dbeibé was elected as prime minister by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in February 2021, thereby replacing the then unity prime minister, Fayez Serraj, who agreed to cede his powers after the consultation process, initiated after a ceasefire agreement after the Tripoli authorities rejected the military offensive launched in April 2019 by General Khalifa Haftar, aligned with the authorities based in the east.

THE PARLIAMENT, BURNED

The attendees would have assaulted the building with an excavator, according to the media ‘Libya Akhbar’. Subsequently, the demonstrators have set fire to the Parliament’s facilities.

After these events, the headquarters of the Chamber would have been completely burned, as reported by the aforementioned media.

Likewise, the demonstrators have read a statement in front of the Courts in which they requested the dissolution of the political bodies of Libya, as well as the supervision of the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections before the end of the year, reported the half Alwasat.

On the same day, there have been several demonstrations in other cities in Libya. In the capital, Tripoli –in the west of the country–, several hundred people have gathered to protest against the militias and the main politicians. In addition, they have demanded a better electricity supply and a drop in the price of bread.


Dbeibé has supported the protests from Tripoli. “The people know who is hindering the elections: the same ones who hindered the budgets, closed the oil tap and contributed to the exacerbation of the crisis they are experiencing,” he lamented about the hardships that a country dependent almost exclusively on oil is going through again. to get out of the spiral of chaos that it has been going through since the death of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

WITHOUT CRUDE

Meanwhile, the Libyan state oil company, the National Petroleum Corporation (NOC), declared this Friday new states of “force majeure” in the oil ports of Al Sidra and Ras Lanuf, in addition to the Al Feel oil field, after the ultimatum expired. awarded to those responsible for the blockades, loyal to Haftar, to reopen the camps.

The state of force majeure still continues in the ports of Brega and Zueitina, and the supply of natural gas to the Zuetina, North Benghazi and Sarir power plants is about to stop, reports the Libya Observer portal.

“Today, more than ever, we face a formidable challenge, in full inability to cover the needs of the vital facilities of the country with fuel, and in the midst of a sharp drop in production”, declared the president of the NOC, Mustafa Sanala.

THE UN CALLS FOR CALM

The UN has condemned the incidents and once again called for calm in the country. The UN special envoy, Stephanie Williams, has described the attack, which has left no victims so far, as “an unacceptable act of vandalism”.

“The people’s right to peacefully protest must be respected and protected, but riots and acts of vandalism such as the storming of the House of Representatives headquarters last (Friday) night in Tobruk are totally unacceptable,” he said. On twitter.

Williams has finally urged the Libyan authorities to remain calm and exercise restraint.

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