By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 15 April 2017:
Misrata Municipal Council says it will take legal action against those trying to overthrow it. It follows fresh action by protestors who today again bricked up the main entrance to the council offices. They first did so on Thursday, but council supporters then removed the blockage.
In a statement today describing the opponents as “criminals”, the municipal council said that while everyone had the right to peaceful protest, attacking the council offices and preventing its staff from entering and working would not be tolerated.
The protestors, organised by the city’s Military Council and its Council of Elders and Wise Men, yesterday also announced they were shutting down the local headquarters of the Justice and Construction Party (J&C), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. They said they wanted it and all other political parties banned.
The divide is ideological. The protestors believe that only “revolutionaries” have the right to hold political office and run the country. As such, they oppose both Khalifa Hafter and the Libyan National Army in the east of the country and the Presidency Council (PC) in Tripoli, supporting instead the Benghazi Defence Brigades and the would-be prime minister in Tripoli, Khalifa Ghwell. They object to the municipal council and the J&C because both support the PC.
