The BIC notes with concern the level of public unrest in Libya, with recent protests in Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata and others, including the destruction of part of the eastern-House of Representatives parliament in Tobruk. While noting the severe economic and practical challenges facing ordinary Libyan citizens, it is imperative that the various factional actors work to listen to the grievances of citizens and deliver governance.
The BIC's Political Analyst, Ben Lowings said:
"Frustration in Libya is an obvious result of years of poor governance and fighting between the polarised political actors. Whatever grains of compromise that have been achieved over the years has barely scratched the surface of the reconciliation challenges. But whilst this progress has been slow, and marked with significant bloodshed, ordinary citizens continue to bear the brunt of the economic and living consequences of such an impasse. The international community has been blindly pursuing elusive national elections as some sort of panacea to the county's entrenched problems, but we are no more closer to elections now than seven years ago. The people cannot wait forever to be able to switch the lights on, and more cross-actor consensus measures must be implemented to improve these conditions urgently."