Al-Bayoudi warns of a widening cost-of-living crisis and protests
LIBYA – Suleiman Al-Bayoudi, leader of the Libyan Renewal Party, has warned that a lack of union solidarity with the protests in the education and health sectors could lead, as he put it, to “the poor dying of hunger”, arguing that mounting pressure to start the school year is aimed at reopening schools without meeting the demands of those staging sit-ins.
Accusations of undeclared pressure from the UN mission and organisations
In a post on his Facebook page, Al-Bayoudi claimed that the authorities, which he described as “fragile”, were under undeclared pressure from the UN mission and the organisations concerned to launch the school year. He said those parties saw the education and health strike in Libya as a movement that could turn into a “soft revolution”, imposing a new reality on public life that would be difficult to control.
Return to school without demands being met
He said the strategic aim of this pressure was for the school year to begin without a unified salary scale being applied or any of the protesters’ demands being met, and predicted growing pressure for schools to reopen through every means of inducement and intimidation.
Call for union solidarity and a warning of hunger
Al-Bayoudi said what he called “the real battle” had now begun, urging all unions and sectors to close ranks and take positions in support of education and health workers.
He warned that if unions and sectors failed to show solidarity, what lay ahead would be, in his words, “the poor dying of hunger” in a country rich in resources, and sharply criticised those he described as the corrupt people ruling the country.
