Banks are set to reopen Friday, amid concerns the severe fiscal crisis that preceded the protests could worsen Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned Tuesday, handing the demonstrators their first victory but plunging the country into greater uncertainty
BEIRUT: Lebanese security forces were still struggling to open some
roads Thursday as protesters continued their civil disobedience campaign
in support of nationwide anti-government demonstrations.
Schools had been set to reopen for the first time in two weeks, but late
Wednesday many parents received text messages saying their schools
would remain closed for security reasons. The state-run National News
Agency reported that schools in some areas would remain closed until
further notice.
Banks, schools and many businesses have been shuttered since mass
protests erupted on Oct. 17. The protests were ignited by a proposed tax
on the WhatsApp messenger service but rapidly escalated into calls for
the resignation of the government and sweeping political change.
Banks are set to reopen Friday, amid concerns the severe fiscal crisis that preceded the protests could worsen.
President Michel Aoun, one of the main targets of the protesters’ anger,
was set to deliver a speech later in the day. Prime Minister Saad
Hariri resigned Tuesday, handing the demonstrators their first victory
but plunging the country into greater uncertainty. It typically takes
weeks or even months to form a government.
The protesters stood down Wednesday as the army cleared most major
thoroughfares, but they packed public squares that night and returned to
the streets a day later, insisting their revolution was far from over.
Walid Rihani, a university professor, said the protesters want a government of technocrats and early parliamentary elections.
“We are back on the streets to remind (them) that the formation of a new
government should not take more than 48 hours,” he said.
The protesters have been sitting or lying in the roads, forcing security
forces to drag them away by their arms and legs. In some places,
security forces have removed piles of burning tires, concrete blocks and
other physical roadblocks. There have been scuffles but no reports of
serious clashes or injuries.
On Tuesday, hundreds of supporters of the militant Hezbollah group and
the allied Shiite Amal party rampaged through the main protest camp,
smashing chairs and setting fire to tents. Security forces dispersed
them with tear gas and the protesters returned a couple hours later,
repairing the tents and resuming their sit-in.
The government is dominated by allies of the Iran-backed Hezbollah,
which has accused unnamed foreign powers of exploiting the protests to
undermine it.
The protesters have called for the overthrow of the political class that
has dominated the country since its 1975-1990 civil war, and which
includes several former warlords and their relatives. The sectarian
power-sharing arrangement that ended the war gave birth to political
machines that have drained the treasury and eroded public services.
Three decades after the end of the war, Lebanon still experiences
frequent power outages, the water supply is unreliable and trash often
goes uncollected. The country is meanwhile $86 billion in debt,
accounting for 150% of its GDP.