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One year after the beginning of the popular anti-authority demonstrations, a march took place in the streets of Beirut in which hundreds of Lebanese participated towards the Bank of Lebanon, then the Ministry of the Interior, and arriving at the port of Beirut, where The catastrophic explosion occurred on August 4, and a torch was lit in a metal model specially designed for the occasion. The phrase “October 17 Revolution”.
Hundreds of Lebanese participated in a march through the streets of Beirut, arriving at the port, on Saturday For a year The beginning of popular demonstrations against authority and demands its departure, at a time when the country faces its worst economic and political crises.
Protesters flocked to downtown Beirut and some carried Lebanese flags and banners bearing various slogans, including “October 17 is not a memory, it is the story of a confrontation between a corrupt authority and a people.” He also held up a large banner with images of MPs calling for his immediate resignation.
Demonstrators who flocked from various areas to Martyrs’ Square, which was the scene of most prominent demonstrations a year ago, headed towards the Bank of Lebanon, then the Ministry of the Interior, towards the port of Beirut, where an explosion on August 4 it killed more than two hundred people and wounded thousands and caused serious damage to several neighborhoods. Capital and economic activity.
At 18:07 (15.07 GMT), the time of the port explosion, a torch was lit in a metal model specially designed for the occasion with the words “October 17 Revolution” to the chants of “Revolution, revolution.”
Limited clashes with security forces
At night, clashes broke out in the vicinity of Parliament and Martyrs’ Square in the center of the Lebanese capital, when a group of protesters threw stones at the security forces, who fired tear gas.
On October 17, 2019, the government’s attempt to impose a cheap tariff on the free telecommunications service through the WhatsApp application was the spark that unleashed the first movements. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut, the south, the north and the Bekaa, in unprecedented demonstrations that crossed sectarian and partisan affiliations.
The protesters raised their voices loudly to the combined political class. They demanded her departure, accusing her of corruption and indifference, and blamed her for the worsening economic situation and the narrow living conditions.
Fallen government
The departure of the political class was the main demand of the protesters. Pressured by the street, then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned. In January, a new government, led by Hassan Diab, was formed with the support of Hezbollah and its allies, who appointed specialist ministers outside the political class.
The momentum of popular movements waned with the formation of the government, then the outbreak of the new Corona virus and general lockdown measures, not to mention the repression of protesters by security forces.
The catastrophic explosion in Beirut
و .دى Beirut port explosionWhich the authorities attributed to the storage of large quantities of ammonium nitrate, to once again fuel the street anger that accused the political class of negligence. Massive demonstrations took place, during which riots and protesters were deliberately targeted, as documented by various human rights organizations. Diab resigned on August 10.
Last month, political forces failed to translate a promise they made to French President Emmanuel Macron to form a government led by Mustafa Adib within a two-week period, according to a French roadmap that stipulated the formation of a government with a “ “ specific mission ” to undertake urgent reforms to gain the support of the international community.
After Adib’s apology, Macron granted the political forces a new period of “four to six weeks” on September 27 to form a government, accusing the political class that they had not facilitated the responsibility of “collective treason.”
The President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, postponed binding parliamentary consultations to appoint a prime minister until next week, at a time when Hariri, who led intense contacts to appoint him this week, appears to have a majority that allows him to assume the task of forming a government, in a maneuver that angered protesters opposed to the authority and some political forces.
The grievances and legitimate needs of the Lebanese people have been neglected
Faced with successive crises and political stalemate, Jan Kubic, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, said in a statement on Friday that “the grievances and legitimate needs of the Lebanese people have been neglected during a terrible year.”
He said: “The reforms that Lebanon needs are known. The ruling political elites have repeatedly pledged to implement them, without delivering on their promises, reinforcing the status quo and paralysis.”
Faced with the hardening of the political forces in the face of the protesters’ demands, the attempts to unify the ranks of civil and political groups have not yet borne fruit.
France 24 / AFP
