Capital gridlocked as fury rises over financial crisis
BEIRUT — Protesters angry with Lebanon’s ruling class blocked major roads leading to the capital Monday, causing traffic jams and prompting the head of the country’s hospital union to warn they were preventing oxygen supplies from reaching medical centers treating coronavirus patients.
The protests come against the backdrop of a crash in the local currency, an increase of consumer goods prices and political bickering between rival groups that has delayed the formation of a new government.
President Michel Aoun blasted the road closures calling them “organized acts of sabotage that aim to undermine stability.” He added that the army and police “should fully perform their duties and implement the law without hesitation.”
Groups of demonstrators blocked the southern, northern and eastern entrances to Beirut with burning tires and parked vehicles. In other parts of Lebanon, soldiers briefly opened some roads only to have protesters close them again.
Tens of thousands have lost their jobs over the past year as the economic crisis, the worst in Lebanon’s modern history, was exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the World Bank, the crisis is expected to drag more than half of Lebanon’s population into poverty.
Sleiman Haroun, president of the Syndicate of Hospitals in Lebanon, told the Associated Press that after a twoday weekend when there was no oxygen distribution, some hospitals are running low and urgently need supplies, especially to treat COVID19 patients.
“This is not a joke. It is a matter of life and death,” Haroun said, urging protesters to allow vehicles carrying supplies of oxygen to pass.
On Saturday, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab warned that the country was headed toward chaos and appealed to politicians to put forth a new government.