Yesterday, people dissatisfied with the chaos and poor living standards took to the streets in several cities. Libya, which is in chaos, has two competing parliaments.
12:07•Updated 12:11
In Libya, protesters stormed the parliament premises in Tobruk, in the eastern part of the country, on Friday. The rioters, dissatisfied with the chaotic situation in Libya, set fires inside and outside the parliament premises.
The skirmish broke out after there was no progress in UN-mediated negotiations to hold elections.
There have been protests in Libya for months. They have demanded a solution to the political stalemate and expressed their opinion against rising prices and continuous power outages.
When the riot broke out, the parliament in Tobruk was empty because Friday is a holiday in the country.
The rioters drove a bucket loader through the parliament gate. After that, cars in the area were set on fire and the walls of the building were beaten. Those who broke into the building started fires there.
There was also a demonstration in Tripoli
Demonstrations were also organized in the capital Tripoli and several other cities yesterday.
According to the news agency Reuters, the demonstration in Tripoli was the largest in years. Reuters says that the protesters shouted their dissatisfaction and demanded the army and police instead of armed groups.
– I am here to oppose all the politicians who have driven Libya to hell, said the 23-year-old Omar Derbal for Reuters.
– Libya is an oil-producing country, but there are still power cuts every day. It means that the country is run by corrupt parties, he continued.
Chaos has continued since Gaddafi’s ouster
Libya is completely divided in two, as there is another, competing parliament in Tripoli. The Tobruk Parliament has been in operation since 2014.
Presiding over the Tripoli Parliament Abdulhamid Dbeibah announced on Twitter that he supported the Tobruk protesters and called for elections.
Originally, parliamentary and presidential elections were supposed to be held in Libya last December, but it did not succeed due to political differences.
Libya has been in a chaotic state since a dictator ruled the country for decades Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011.
The last time there was more widespread violence in the country was two years ago, but the situation has been confused all along. There have been recent clashes between armed factions in Tripoli and the fear of a full-scale conflict has grown.
Rich in oil resources, Libya was once one of the best countries in Africa in terms of living standards. Libya had free education and healthcare.