"The people want the government to fall!" chanted several hundred people assembled on Friday, May 30, in Martyrs' Square in downtown Tripoli, the Libyan capital, calling for the departure of Abdel Hamid Dbeibah. The prime minister, appointed in 2021 to head the Government of National Unity (GNU), which was established under United Nations auspices to guide the country toward elections that never took place, now faces the beginnings of a popular uprising following violent clashes between militias that rocked Tripoli from May 12 to May 17. However, the turnout was not as large as in previous protests. There were far fewer demonstrators than on the two preceding Fridays, when at least 1,000 people gathered.

Such protest movements have been extremely rare in Libya, where armed groups enforce their own rule over divided territories. The trigger was the sudden resumption of fighting between several militias loyal to the GNU – such as the 111 and 444 Brigades – and rival groups such as the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA) and the Radaa force, both of which control parts of the capital.

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