The protests coincide with a severe heatwave that has gripped Libya for several days, causing power outages lasting more than 14 hours in some neighbourhoods.
They chanted slogans including: “The people want justice that holds accountable those who wasted their money”, “The people’s money is a trust in your hands” and “Electricity? Where did the billions go?”
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The Government of National Unity, led by Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, has worked since 2021 to address the electricity crisis, which improved significantly between 2023 and 2025.
Libya remains split between two rival governments: the internationally recognised Government of National Unity, headed by Dbeibeh and based in Tripoli, which administers western Libya; and a government appointed by the House of Representatives in early 2022, currently headed by Osama Hammad and based in Benghazi, which administers the east and most of the south.
For years, the UN Support Mission in Libya has sought to broker a political settlement leading to elections, which many Libyans hope will end the country’s political divisions and armed conflict that have persisted since the 2011 ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.
