From 22 July onwards, demonstrations began taking place in areas in and around Tripoli, with protestors (mainly young men) closing roads using burning rubbish and old tyres to demand the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) and the Government of National Unity GNU address the power cuts. Locations included Ain Zara, Hay Al-Andalous, Tajura, Airport Road, Zawiyya, and Qaser Ben Ghashir. There are also videos circulating on social media of young men going to electricity substations and intimidating GECOL personnel accusing them of cutting power to their areas and attempting to force them into turning power back on to their areas. Others have been videoed entering unlocked power substations and turning power on themselves.
On 25 and 26 July, demonstrations and roadblocks spread across western Libya as the heat and power cuts worsened, initiating protests and roadblocks in Bani Walid, Zawiyya and Janzour, among others, while in Tripoli protestors set up barricades (often burning) at key government, institutional and media buildings, accusing these entities of being responsible for the crisis or for ignoring it. Trucks of soil or rubble were tipped in front of state buildings including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Zawiat al-Dahmani, the Ministry of Transport and Audit Bureau, as well as in front of the state TV channel, the Libyan Telecoms Holding Company and Alwataniya state TV channel, amid accusations they had not been covering the protests.
There were also protests outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Ben Ashour, with nearby roads blocked due to protests and significantly increased security around the building. There was severe congestion in parts of Tripoli due to the blockades. Other areas with protests and blockades included Ain Zara, Ben Ghashir, Dahra, Khalat Al-Furjan, Tajoura, Siraj, Souq al-Jumaa, and Zawiat Al-Dahmani. There were also protests outside the West Tripoli power station and at the Mellitah Complex, with calls for Mellitah to stop sending any natural gas to Italy via the Green Stream pipeline.
The protests quickly became political, with some protesters calling for the removal of the GNU.
While many of these demonstrations began in protest against the electricity crisis and its knock-on impacts, the demands of those protesting appeared to become more focused over the course of several days, with calls for the GNU and even all the political elite to be removed.
The Souq al-Jumaa Movement announced the launch of ‘a new phase of peaceful popular action’ calling for a comprehensive civil disobedience campaign in Tripoli to pressure the GNU PM Abdul Hameed Dabaiba to stand down. The movement urged citizens to participate in peaceful civil disobedience by closing government institutions and public companies across the capital. It stressed that its objective is to disrupt government operations without affecting the daily lives of residents. It emphasized that public roads would not be blocked, citizens would not be targeted, and private property would be protected throughout the campaign. Branches of the Central Bank and offices of the Libyana and Almadar telecommunications companies in Souq al-Jumaa were shut down.
The Sons of Tajoura Movement said actions would continue until ‘the governments in the east and west of the country are brought down.’
In Misrata, an armed group opposed to Dabaiba staged a show of force, with convoys of military vehicles driving through the city amid a heavy deployment of personnel, raising concerns that the protests could fuel rivalries between armed factions.
Although there does not appear to be one central organisational point for the protests, eyewitnesses report that there are clear signs that there is some organisation with protestors holding pre-printed banners and placards. In addition, while burning rubbish and tyres is relatively easily done on the spur of the moment, organising (and crucially paying for) the delivery of trucks with sand and rubble at a time when diesel is very scare and very expensive suggests some one with money and power supporting and facilitating the anti-government/ state protests to some extent.
Interior Minister Imad al-Trabelsi ordered security agencies across Tripoli to raise their readiness to the maximum level in response to the unrest. On 26 July, the Prime Minister’s Office Protection and Security Force issued a statement warning that ‘anyone who seeks to undermine the country’s security or target state institutions will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law.’ It urged citizens not to be drawn into ‘calls aimed at stirring chaos,’ while saying freedom of expression was guaranteed by law.