Experts warn that the Lebanese people have found themselves trapped between starvation or death in the middle of a pandemic that the government is unable to contain.
Friday 29/01/2021
Lebanese anti-government protesters burn garbage in the northern port city of Tripoli to protest the economic situation and their role in leading the country to crisis, on January 28, 2021. (AFP)
BEIRUT – Protests across Lebanon, especially in the northern city of Tripoli, have confused the country’s dominant political class, which is concerned the scope of unrest will expand and threaten their influence.
In last minute attempts, some political players have been looking to pass blame for the ongoing unrest, deliberately questioning motives and promoting the narrative that rival political and legal forces are behind the protests.
Among these sceptics is former Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who heads the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). On Thursday, Bassil said “the affiliation and financing of the recent protests are known. The fingerprints of some coordinators and officials from some former and current agencies are clear in what is going on.”
He added, “What is happening will not protect their political and financial organisation and will not divert our attention from their corruption, and we will continue to pursue them all, with both determination and common sense, until they return what they seized.”
The FPM leader’s statement provoked angry and sarcastic reactions, as Bassil, despite attacking the current political system, is one of its main pillars who protesters hold responsible for a large part of the country’s economic and political paralysis.
Political circles believe that Bassil’s accusations are directed in part at the country’s Central Bank governor, as well as the Future Movement and its leader Saad Hariri, who paradoxically also questioned the recent protests a day before.
In a series of Twitter posts, Hariri said “some parties who want to send political messages could be behind the unrest in Tripoli. There could be someone who wants to take advantage of the people’s pain and the distress experienced by the poor and those with limited income.”
Hariri addressed the protesters, saying, “I warn our people in Tripoli and other regions against any exploitation of their living conditions, and I call on the state and the competent ministries to use all available means to curb poverty and hunger and to provide the social foundations for citizens’ commitment to the general lockdown.”
— Between COVID-19 and starvation —
Observers said the political force’ reactions showed how detached they are from the Lebanese people, more than half of whom are suffering from poverty as well as the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which is claiming thousands of victims daily.
These observers pointed out that the general lockdown approved by the caretaker government headed by Hassan Diab did not come with any measures to help thousands of families bear the cost of their depleted pockets.
The public’s reaction to the deteriorating situation was expected, experts said, while warning that the Lebanese people have found themselves trapped between starvation or death from the pandemic that the government has proven unable to contain.
Thursday was the fourth straight night of unrest in one of Lebanon’s poorest cities, after the Beirut government imposed a 24-hour curfew to curb a surge in the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 2,500 people and compounded an economic crisis.
A Lebanese anti-government protester waves a national flag during clashes with security forces in front of the Serail (headquarters of the Governorate), in the northern port city of Tripoli, Januray 28, 2021. (AFP)
In Tripoli, flames engulfed the municipal government building after it caught fire just before midnight. Police had been firing tear gas at protesters hurling petrol bombs.
A funeral for a man who died from a gunshot wound on Wednesday night had given fuel to protesters. Security forces said they had fired live rounds to disperse rioters trying to storm the government building.
In a statement Friday, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister and its president condemned the violence in Tripoli.
“The criminals who set the municipality on fire and attempted to burn the court…represent a black hatred for Tripoli,” Prime Minister Hassan Diab said.
“The challenge now is in defeating these criminals by arresting them one by one and referring them to the judicial system.” President Michel Aoun also condemned the violence.
Diab’s statement did not mention the killing. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for it to be investigated.
“The government neglected the needs of Tripoli’s people and used brute force…when they demanded a better life,” HRW researcher Aya Majzoub said.
According to the state-run National News Agency (NNA), a total of 226 people were injured in Tripoli and a man from Bab al-Tabbaneh area, whom it did not identify, later died of his wounds in hospital. The Lebanese Red Cross said it treated 67 people at the scene and took 35 others to hospital for treatment.
The financial meltdown gripping Lebanon could render people more dependent on political factions for aid and security, in a throwback to the 1975-90 civil war era of dominant militias.
Some analysts have warned that security forces, their wages fast losing value, would not be able to contain rising unrest.
Najib Mikati, a billionaire businessman and former premier who is from Tripoli, warned on Friday that should the army prove unable to control the situation in his city quickly enough, dangerous disorder could set in.
“I may have to carry arms to protect myself and my institutions,” Mikati told local media.
Lebanon has been in the throes of its worst financial crisis since 2019 and anger has escalated into street unrest over the economy, endemic state corruption and political mismanagement.
A currency crash has raised the spectre of widespread hunger but Lebanese leaders have yet to launch a rescue plan or enact reforms to unlock aid, prompting rebukes from foreign donors.
Diab is steering the government in a caretaker role as fractious politicians remain unable to agree on a new government since he quit in the aftermath of the August 4 Beirut port explosion, leaving Lebanon rudderless as poverty spreads.
In Tripoli, flames engulfed the municipal government building after it caught fire just before midnight. Police had been firing tear gas at protesters hurling petrol bombs.
A funeral for a man who died from a gunshot wound on Wednesday night had given fuel to protesters. Security forces said they had fired live rounds to disperse rioters trying to storm the government building.
In a statement Friday, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister and its president condemned the violence in Tripoli.
“The criminals who set the municipality on fire and attempted to burn the court…represent a black hatred for Tripoli,” Prime Minister Hassan Diab said.
“The challenge now is in defeating these criminals by arresting them one by one and referring them to the judicial system.” President Michel Aoun also condemned the violence.
Diab’s statement did not mention the killing. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for it to be investigated.
“The government neglected the needs of Tripoli’s people and used brute force…when they demanded a better life,” HRW researcher Aya Majzoub said.
According to the state-run National News Agency (NNA), a total of 226 people were injured in Tripoli and a man from Bab al-Tabbaneh area, whom it did not identify, later died of his wounds in hospital. The Lebanese Red Cross said it treated 67 people at the scene and took 35 others to hospital for treatment.
The financial meltdown gripping Lebanon could render people more dependent on political factions for aid and security, in a throwback to the 1975-90 civil war era of dominant militias.
Some analysts have warned that security forces, their wages fast losing value, would not be able to contain rising unrest.
Najib Mikati, a billionaire businessman and former premier who is from Tripoli, warned on Friday that should the army prove unable to control the situation in his city quickly enough, dangerous disorder could set in.
“I may have to carry arms to protect myself and my institutions,” Mikati told local media.
Lebanon has been in the throes of its worst financial crisis since 2019 and anger has escalated into street unrest over the economy, endemic state corruption and political mismanagement.
A currency crash has raised the spectre of widespread hunger but Lebanese leaders have yet to launch a rescue plan or enact reforms to unlock aid, prompting rebukes from foreign donors.
Diab is steering the government in a caretaker role as fractious politicians remain unable to agree on a new government since he quit in the aftermath of the August 4 Beirut port explosion, leaving Lebanon rudderless as poverty spreads.
AW ARAB WEEKLY
No comments:
Post a Comment