On Monday, the Libyan Parliament issued a statement claiming that demonstrators “driven by suspicious parties” burnt the Parliament’s headquarters and stole sensitive documents.
It denounced the burning of the Parliament’s archive “collected over 8 years, including secret local and international documents, and bilateral relations with countries. The stolen and leaked documents are executive documents followed by various authorities.”
The Parliament pointed out that the physical archive “is electronically saved in several places, and can be recovered within days,” it noted.
The statement stressed that they will “continue to pursue the perpetrators who were behind these attacks,” and urged the Attorney General to open an urgent investigation into the incident.
Notably, protesters broke into the headquarters of the Libyan Parliament in Tobruk, on Friday evening. They set parts of it on fire, amid protests over months of failed efforts to set the divided country on a path toward elections.
Images posted online showed thick columns of smoke as the demonstrators burned tires outside, and torched cars. This occurred after one protester had smashed through the compound’s gate with a bulldozer, and others attacked the walls with construction tools, local media reported.
There have been rallies in other Libyan cities against the continuing power cuts, rising prices, and political deadlock. In the capital, Tripoli, where a rival administration holds sway, protesters called for elections. According to eyewitnesses, thousands joined a march to the Parliament building calling for the current political powers to be dissolved, and elections to be held.
The Speaker of the House, Ageela Saleh accused supporters of the former regime of deliberately setting fire to the Parliament headquarters.
He also blamed the outgoing Government of National Unity (GNU) led by Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba for failing to hold elections.
On 10 February, Saleh, announced the unanimous appointment of Fathi Bashagha as the new Prime Minister. However, Dbaiba warned that the appointment of a new interim government could lead to war and chaos in the country. He renewed his pledge to only hand power over to an elected government.