Walking through Tripoli’s streets on Saturday, the celebratory atmosphere was visible and audible across the city, and it was difficult as a Libyan not to get caught up in the emotions on display. Having been denied even a local council election for forty years, the city’s population was determined to enjoy this historic day, the country’s first national elections since the 1960s. I felt so happy and proud of my fellow Libyans.
People smiled at me, waved their flags and honked car horns as they drove through the streets. Fingers were held up in victory signs – something I hadn’t seen since the one year anniversary of the revolution – except this time most of the fingers were stained in indigo ink: a sign they’d been up early and already voted.
