Beirut protests turn violent for second day as PM threatens to quit

“It’s a result of the corruption in this country”, he said.

The crowds swelled today, despite the “You Stink” campaign which has behind the street protests scheduling its next official demonstration for Saturday. A few remaining protesters set tires ablaze there, with some even pulling down trees and throwing them into the fire.

“We are here today against sectarianism of the Lebanese government, our parliament of thieves that stole from the people’s pockets, forcing our youth to emigrate”, said one protester who only gave his first name, Mohammed, to CNN.

It tasked a ministerial committee with restarting the bidding process, suggesting there was no imminent solution for the crisis that has sparked the protests.

“Problem with some Lebanese is that they consider poor people thugs”. “Akkar is not a garbage dump!” read the slogan on one protester’s T-shirt.

While Lebanon’s many politicians can reliably turn out large numbers of supporters on a given political issue, broad-based protests are less common. Those divisions mirror the larger regional Shiite-Sunni divide, and have long paralyzed the government.

The prime minister said on Sunday that if legislators could not reach an agreement on the rubbish crisis on Thursday, there is a possibility the government will be dissolved. It said holding peaceful protests was a legitimate right.

Following the ministers’ walk out, the cabinet unanimously rejected the winning bidders to privately manage Beirut’s rubbish collection, which had been announced by the environment minister on Monday, citing high costs.

Israel’s allies are also concerned that instability in Lebanon could increase the risk of conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s major political and military force, Hezbollah.

Protesters had planned to rally on Monday but postponed it following the violence and instead held a smaller march of hundreds of people, escorted by security services as they headed toward the seat of government. “They knew the exact hour the trash crisis would begin, yet they did nothing about it. And when it struck, the entire conversation among the political leaders was about how to divide the spoils”, she added.

Meanwhile, the political paralysis continues. The country does not have a functioning Cabinet or parliament, and hasn’t had a president for more than a year. “The Special Coordinator underlined the importance of effective and urgent decision-making by the Cabinet”, the statement said.

Thousands of protesters streamed into downtown Beirut for a second day on Sunday to demand that the government resign over its inability to remove enormous heaps of garbage from the city’s streets.

His friend Sam was unsure the protest movement would go forward if violent elements continued to show up.

Nada Andraos Aziz, a reporter for Lebanese TV channel LBC, was covering recent protests in Beirut and got caught in the fray as police advanced on the crowd Saturday night.

Lebanon’s army commander General Jean Kahwaji said late on Monday the armed forces would protect any peaceful demonstrations but would not tolerate “security violators or infiltrators” who sought to sow “sedition and chaos”.

Lebanese women have their picture taken in front a concrete wall installed by authorities near the main Lebanese government building, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, August 25, 2015.