Beirut and some Lebanese regions are awaiting a new strike by unions and popular movements on Friday to protest the deteriorating economic situation and the failure of politicians to form a government.
Street protests began on December 23, but without targeting a particular political party or being adopted by a movement of a specified political or social affiliation.
A group of Lebanese, particularly supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement and President Michel Aoun, considered the move to be suspicious and aimed at exerting pressure on the president.
“People express their pain, no matter who calls for the protest,” says Mohammad Nasrallah, a member of the Development and Liberation bloc, which is headed by Speaker Nabih Berri. “They are right; because Lebanon is falling apart with the deteriorating services…”
According to the head of the “Movement for Change”, Lawyer Elie Mahfoud, “the demonstrations in Lebanon made no difference except for the March 14 demonstration in 2005, which led to the withdrawal of the Syrian forces from Lebanon following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.”
He explained that the lack of participation of the majority of the main parties “makes these small gatherings incapable of achieving a demand through the street. The deteriorating economic situation did not motivate people to take to the streets and drag their party leaders behind them.”
“These demonstrations are not entirely innocent,” Mahfouz noted, “as if a hidden hand was moving to show how much President Aoun’s tenure has collapsed.”
On the other hand, Nasrallah pointed out that the formation of the government would be accompanied by the “imposition of new taxes to secure revenues for the treasury and alleviate the current deficit, which will exacerbate the suffering of citizens and pave the way for chaos unless things are resolved.
