Anger against political elite in Lebanon grows
BERRI’S MILITIAMEN ATTACK PROTESTERS IN SOUTH
Tens of thousands of protesters filled the streets for a third day in Lebanon yesterday, demanding the removal of a political elite they say has lined its pockets at the nation’s expense.
Flag-waving demonstrators converged once again on Beirut’s central business district, home to bank and government headquarters, where rioters clashed with police late into the night Friday. The protests first erupted on Thursday night after the government said it might impose a fee on Whatsapp calls as part of broader efforts to shore up government revenues and avert an economic collapse.
No additional taxes
In an attempt to appease demonstrators, Lebanon’s finance minister announced following a meeting with Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri that they had agreed on a final budget that did not include any additional taxes or fees.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said in a tweet there would be a “reassuring solution” to the economic crisis.
Unrest, meanwhile, has spread to strongholds of political figures including parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, whose militiamen attacked the demonstrators in the south yesterday.
“This country is moving towards total collapse. This regime has failed to lead Lebanon and it must be toppled and replaced,” said Mohammad Awada, 32, who is unemployed.
Thousands of demonstrators poured into Lebanon’s streets yesterday for a third day of antigovernment protests, directing growing rage at a political elite they blame for driving the country to the economic brink.
From the south to the east and north, protesters blocked roads, burnt tyres and marched through the streets to keep the momentum going despite gunmen loyal to the Shiite Amal movement appearing with heavy guns to scare them away.
In central Beirut, protesters of all ages waved flags and chanted for revolution outside upmarket retailers and banks that had their storefronts smashed in by some rogue rioters the night before.
“This country is moving towards total collapse. This regime has failed to lead Lebanon and it must be toppled and replaced,” said Mohammad Awada, 32, who is unemployed. “We no longer feel we have a state. This state tramples on all institutions.”
Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri gave his government partners a 72-hour deadline on Friday to agree on reforms that could ward off economic crisis, hinting he may otherwise resign.
The latest unrest erupted out of anger over the rising cost of living and new tax plans, including a fee on WhatsApp calls,
which was quickly retracted after protests — the biggest in decades — broke out. Riot police in vehicles and on foot rounded up protesters, according to witnesses. They fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters, dispersing demonstrators in Beirut’s commercial district. Dozens of people were wounded and detained.
WHAT’S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE PROTESTS
These are Lebanon’s biggest protests in a decade, and recall the 2011 Arab revolts that toppled four presidents. Lebanese from all sects and walks of life have come out on to the streets, waving banners and chanting slogans urging Hariri’s government to go.
The rallies follow warnings by economists and investors that Lebanon’s economy and graftriddled financial system are closer to the brink than at any time since the war-torn 1980s.
“There are those who have placed obstacles in front of me ... and in the face of all the efforts that I have proposed for reform,” Hariri said, without naming names.
“Whatever the solution, we no longer have time and I am personally giving myself only a little time. Either our partners in government and in the nation give a frank response to the solution, or I will have another say,” he said.
“The deadline left is very short. It’s 72 hours.”
WHAT IS THE PRIMARY DEMAND OF PROTESTERS?
Protesters poured through villages and towns as well as the capital Beirut for a second day. No political leader, Muslim or Christian, was spared their wrath. Their chants called for leaders including Hariri, President Michel Aoun, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to step down.
The mood was a mixture of rage, defiance and hope.
As night fell, crowds waving Lebanese flags marched through the streets as patriotic music blared from loudspeakers. They shouted: “Our demands are one, our objective is one: the people want the downfall of the regime.” Some protesters fainted as security forces fired tear gas.
The Red Cross said its teams had treated 160 people wounded in protests since Thursday evening.
Lebanon’s internal security apparatus said 52 police were injured on Friday and its forces arrested 70 people.
Some protesters, including men in black hoods, blocked roads, set tyres on fire and used iron bars to smash storefronts in Beirut’s posh downtown district.
As fires blazed, some streets in the capital looked like a battlefield, strewn with rubber bullets, smashed up cars, broken glass and torn billboards. Firefighters struggled late into the night douse the flames.
With demonstrators crowding around Aoun’s palace in Baabda, the United Nations urged all sides to refrain from actions that could lead to more tensions and violence. to
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates warned their citizens against travelling to Lebanon. Bahrain told its nationals to leave at once.
Whatever the solution, we no longer have time and I am personally giving myself only a little time.” Sa’ad Hariri | Lebanon’s Prime Minister
WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF CORRUPTION?
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, also blamed other parties for blocking reforms, saying the government must work to stop corruption and avoid imposing new taxes.
The latest unrest erupted out of anger over the rising cost of living and new tax plans, includ
ing a fee on WhatsApp calls.
“We came to the streets because we can no longer bear this situation. This regime is totally corrupt,” said Fadi Eisa, 51, who marched with his son. “They are all thieves, they come into the government to fill their pockets, not to serve the country.”
ARE THE PROTESTS SECTARIAN IN NATURE?
No. The protesters’ disdain for Lebanon’s leaders seemed omnipartisan. In Sunni-dominated areas, people tore down posters of Hariri, the country’s most powerful Sunni. In largely Shiite parts of southern Lebanon, they chanted against Nabih Berri, the Shiite speaker of Parliament, whose popularity usually goes unquestioned, and in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut they attacked the offices of Hezbollah members of Parliament. Outside the government palace in Beirut on Friday evening, a chanting crowd alternately mocked Hariri and Gebran Bassil, the foreign minister and a leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party.
“They are the kings, and we are the slaves. Enough,” said Suzy Barakat, 40, a public relations worker who was part of a crowd in Beirut’s Hezbollahdominated southern suburb.
WHAT IS HEZBOLLAH’S POSITION?
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday that the group was not demanding the government’s resignation amid the protests. Nasrallah said in a televised speech that he supported the government, but called for a new agenda and “new spirit,” adding that ongoing protests showed the way forward was not new taxes.