Tensions rattle Lebanon anti-graft protests

Agence France-Presse

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Tensions rattle Lebanon anti-graft protests

AFP

Hassan Nasrallah, chief of Hezbollah, warns that any cabinet resignation would lead to 'chaos and collapse' of the economy

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Tensions rattled Lebanon’s 9-day protest movement Friday, October 25, with a powerful Shiite leader seeking to diffuse them by calling his supporters away from the streets. (READ: Hundreds of thousands take over streets as Lebanon’s protests grow)

The demonstrators – who have thronged towns and cities across Lebanon – have been demanding the removal of the entire political class, accusing many across different parties of systematic corruption.

The chief of powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, Friday warned that any cabinet resignation would lead to “chaos and collapse” of the economy. (READ: Protests in Lebanese capital over deteriorating economy)

“We do not support the resignation of the government,” he said in a televised speech, Lebanon’s national flag – instead of his party’s colors – positioned behind him. 

Hezbollah is a major political player in Lebanon and with its allies holds the majority in the cabinet. 

Nasrallah also called on his partisans to leave the streets after scuffles broke out in Beirut between them and other anti-graft protesters. (READ: DFA to Filipinos in Lebanon: Stay away from protests)

Unprecedented protests have erupted in some Hezbollah strongholds, but a number of its supporters have also taken offense to slogans against their leader.

In the capital’s main square, protesters fell silent to listen to Nasrallah’s speech broadcast on loudspeakers.

As it neared its end, the police moved in to separate Hezbollah supporters from the rest of the demonstrators, an Agence France-Presse correspondent said. 

Before they retreated, Hezbollah backers threw rocks, plastics bottles and branches at the other demonstrators, who responded in kind chanting “Revolution.”

‘All of them’

After night fell in the northern city of Tripoli, hundreds held up their mobile phones with their lights on, waving them as if at a concert.

Among them, 33-year-old engineer Bilal Hussein said he was not surprised Nasrallah wanted the current cabinet to stay put.

“We realize that Nasrallah is the one controlling Lebanon,” he said.

“He is defending the government and the president’s rule because their fall would mean the end of his political plan.”

The Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, is the only movement not to have disarmed after Lebanon’s 15-year civil war.

After initially welcoming the protests as spontaneous, Nasrallah on Friday insinuated that the protesters were being manipulated.

Numbers have declined since Sunday, when hundreds of thousands took over Beirut and other cities in the largest demonstrations in years, but could grow again over the weekend.

Lebanon’s largely sectarian political parties have been wrong-footed by the cross-communal nature of the largely peaceful protests.

Waving Lebanese flags rather than the partisan colors normally paraded at demonstrations, protesters have been demanding the resignation of all of Lebanon’s political leaders.

“All of them means all,” has been a popular slogan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the authorities to exert maximum restraint and solve their problems through dialogue.

In attempts to calm the anger, Prime Minister Saad Hariri has pushed through a package of economic reforms, while President Michel Aoun offered Thursday to meet with representatives of the demonstrators to discuss their demands.

‘We want to stay’

But those measures have been given short shrift by demonstrators, many of whom want the government to resign to pave the way for new elections.

“We want to stay on the street to realize our demands and improve the country,” one protester, who asked to be identified only by his first name Essam, told AFP.

“We want the regime to fall… The people are hungry and there is no other solution in front of us,” said the 30-year-old health administrator.

On Friday morning, protesters had again cut some of Beirut’s main highways, including the road to the airport and the coastal road towards second city Tripoli and the north.

The army in a statement urged demonstrators to refrain from such measures and “respect of freedom of circulation.”

Rights group Amnesty International called on Lebanese authorities to “refrain from trying to forcefully disperse peaceful assemblies.”

On Thursday, scuffles had already broken out in central Beirut, injuring one protester.

Lebanon endured a devastating civil war that ended in 1990 and many of its current political leaders are former commanders of wartime militias, most of them recruited on sectarian lines.

Persistent deadlock between them has stymied efforts to tackle the deteriorating economy, while the 8-year war in neighboring Syria has compounded the crisis.

More than a quarter of Lebanon’s population lives in poverty, according to the World Bank. – Rappler.com

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