Lebanon PM threatens to resign amid anti-government protests

After criticism of their heavy-handed tactics against protesters on Saturday, the police initially showed restraint and limited their response to using water cannon.

The fighting then escalated into the same back-and-forth between crowds and police seen on Saturday. On Sunday, protesters threw rocks and sticks at police and lit fires. Although the constitution guarantees the right to protest, the protesters were met with violence by the Lebanese Internal Security Forces and the army in scenes reminiscent of those of the Arab Spring protests. The resulting violence led to more than a dozen people injured and one dead.

“The crisis only exists in Lebanon, and the reason is that there is a crisis of splitting shares and the presence of greed and rottenness inside state institutions”, he said. Lebanon’s health minister has warned of a coming environmental catastrophe as some have started dumping trash in valleys, rivers and near the sea. “It is the story of the political garbage in the country and the political trash in the country”, Salam said. About 40 people were taken to hospital.

The violence subsided at about 10pm after riot police retreated and allowed protesters to advance to the gates of the Grand Serail, the prime minister’s headquarters.

Due to infighting, Lebanon has been without a president for more than a year.

The explosion of anger targets the endemic corruption, hapless government and sectarian divisions of a brittle country once torn by civil war and now struggling with a wave of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.

“Whether it’s the wall or the barbed wire, the objective of putting a barrier here is so that the government doesn’t have to listen to the demands of the people”, said Akiki, a recent university graduate who has participated in the protests.

Salam’s threat to resign has fuelled concern of a bigger crisis. “So either (the government) has to change or it has to become more efficient and more equitable”.

“The infuriating thing is it that the government knew the exact hour the landfill would expire. Let all officials and political forces bear their responsibilities”, he added.

Six ministers of the Hezbollah group and its allies have walked out of a Lebanese cabinet meeting that had been called to discuss the country’s worsening rubbish collection crisis, reflecting the government’s lingering dysfunction despite mass protests.

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas told LBCI that the cabinet will hold an extraordinary session on Tuesday afternoon.

Lebanon’s “You Stink” movement will not resemble Egypt’s revolution, a leading Lebanese political activist has claimed.

The bids will now go before Lebanon’s cabinet for approval. The group does, however, face a number of significant challenges.

The protests turned violent for the second day.

So the Lebanese presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian, the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament has to be a Shia Muslim.

“There is an awakening of democratic awareness, and it has been a very long time since Lebanon has not come out of these political parties and religious sects to ask that all political leaders be punished or sidelined”. No one wants the incompetence of governments like Lebanon’s (or Yemen’s or Syria’s) to be replaced by chaos, anarchy, and strife.

Others countered that the comments reflect prejudice against working-class protesters.