Tripoli and several cities in eastern and western Libya are witnessing a cautious calm after angry demonstrations culminated in the storming of the House of Representatives in Tobruk and setting it on fire. In the unrest last Friday, while protesters stressed Saturday that they will continue to demonstrate until all the ruling elites step down from power.
The participants in the Friday demonstrations demanded an improvement in living conditions and an end to the electricity crisis. They stormed the parliament headquarters in Tobruk and set fire to part of it, and demanded the dissolution of Parliament, chanting slogans, including "Get out, thieves (thieves)."
The Presidency of the Libyan House of Representatives condemned this incident.
While the Prime Minister of the National Unity Government, Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba, said late on Friday that all Libyan political institutions should withdraw and hold elections, which most political leaders have said for years without making the necessary concessions to hold those elections.
And the US ambassador to Libya said - through tweets on the embassy's website - that he had expressed, during a phone call he received from the President of the Libyan Presidential Council, Muhammad Al-Manfi, his country's concern about the political and economic stalemate that led to Friday's unrest in parts of Libya.
He added that there is no single political entity that legitimately controls all parts of Libya, and that any unilateral solution will lead to violence. He also said that dialogue is what will chart the way for elections and political stability, as he put it.
According to the statement of the media office of the Libyan Presidential Council, Norland and the exile stressed the right of peaceful demonstrators to express their views, and to have their demands heard in the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections and an end to the transitional stages.
And demanded the UN Special Adviser in Libya Stephanie Williams to respect the right of the people to peaceful protest, and said that the riots - such as storming the headquarters of the House of Representatives - are totally unacceptable, adding at the same time that it is an explicit call for the political class to put aside their differences, and hold the elections that the Libyan people want.
The EU ambassador to Libya, Jose Sabadell, also said that the voices of Libyans across the country, who want change through elections, must be heard.
The last round of talks between President of the Supreme Council of State Khaled Al-Mashri (left) and Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh ended without agreement (French)
Escalation of the protest campaign
On Saturday, Libyan protesters said they would continue demonstrating until all the ruling elites step down.
The protest movement said it would step up its campaign starting Sunday, calling on protesters to set up tents in city squares and declare civil disobedience until their goal of overthrowing political institutions and holding new elections is achieved.
"We affirm our determination to continue peaceful demonstration until the last breath until the goals are achieved," said the "Baltris" youth movement, which focuses mostly on online activities on living conditions, and was behind calls for protest in 2020 on social media.
The current added that it would occupy the streets and squares until "they announce their resignation in public," referring to all the ruling political entities.
Security vehicles took up positions around government buildings in the capital, Tripoli, after sunset on Saturday, and there was no sign of new protests after Friday rallies.
The last round of talks in Geneva between Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh and the President of the Supreme Council of State Khaled Al-Mashri concluded Thursday without agreement on a constitutional framework for holding the elections.