“We do not want successive transitional periods. We are tired of transitional periods. We want to go to elections. We want a civil state. We want to be like other countries,” said protester Abdelraouf Zahloul.

Dbeibah, who leads the divided country’s Government of National Unity, came to power through an United Nations (UN)-backed process in 2021.

Planned elections failed to proceed that year because of disagreements among rival factions and he has remained in power.

Libya has had little stability since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising ousted longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi.

The country split in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions, though an outbreak of major warfare paused with a truce in 2020.

--SABC--