Lebanese burn ruling parties’ offices after night of clashes
● Crackdown by police leads to fresh escalation of Beirut protests
Attackers in northern Lebanon set fire to the offices of two major political parties yesterday, the state-run National News Agency said.
The assaults came just hours after the capital Beirut was rocked by the most violent government crackdown on protesters since nationwide demonstrations began two months ago.
Lebanese security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and used water cannons throughout the night to disperse anti-government protesters from the city centre – the epicentre of the protest movement in Beirut – and around parliament.
Mona Fawaz, whio was at the protest, told reporters: “It was a very peaceful protest. Everyone was singing chants that we’re one people, that we’re all peaceful and then some of the young guys pushed one of the fences that separated us. “We saw an enormous amount of police come out and really disperse us, push us and then they started [firing] tear gas on us. There was really no reason for all this demonstration of force.”
The overnight confrontations in Beirut left more than 130 people injured, according to the Red Cross. In the northern Akkar district yesterday, attackers broke the windows and torched the local office for resigned prime minister Saad Hariri’s political party in the town of Kharibet al-jindi.
In a separate attack in Akkar district, assailants stormed the local office of the largest party in parliament, affiliated with president Michel Aoun and headed by foreign minister Gebran Bassil.
The party said the contents of the office in the town of Jedidat al-juma had also been smashed and burned.
Lebanon is facing one of its worst economic crises in decades. It has the third-highest public debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in the world at 150 per cent. The youth unemployment rate has reached 37 per cent, according to official figures, while the overall unemployment rate is 25 per cent. Almost a third of the population now lives under the poverty line, according to the World Bank. and the protesters accuse the ruling political class in place for three decades of mismanagement and corruption.
People have also been angered by the government’s failure to provide basic services. They have to deal with daily power cuts, a lack of safe drinking water, a lack of public healthcare and intermittent and weak internet connections.
The country’s public infrastructure, which was never fully rebuilt after the 1975-89 civil war, has been stretched to breaking point in recent years by the arrival of more than one million refugees from neighbouring Syria.
The violence comes a day before the president is due to hold talks with different parliamentary blocs to name a new prime minister on Monday.
Interior minister Raya alhassan yesterday ordered an investigation into the clashes which she said injured both protesters and security forces.
She said she watched the confrontations “with concern, sadness and shock.”
Al-hassan blamed “infiltrators” for instigating the friction and called on the demonstrators to be wary of those who want to exploit their protests for political reasons. She didn’t elaborate.
Nationwide protests began on 17 Octber, and the government headed by Hariri resigned two weeks later.
Political parties have since been bickering over the shape and form of the new cabinet. Protesters want a technocratic government, not affiliated with established political parties.
After weeks of back and forth, Hariri has emerged as the likely candidate for the job.
As many as a million people have since joined demonstrations, bringing the country to a standstill and shutting down schools, shops and banks.