At least 15 people were injured on Saturday in clashes with Lebanese security forces in downtown Beirut for the government’s failure to solve the garbage crisis.
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A second day of mass anti-government demonstrations in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, turned violent on Sunday, with riot police spraying thousands of protesters with a water cannon and pelting them with stones.
Clashes in Beirut renewed on Saturday when the police dispersed the anti-garbage demonstrators crying out antigovernmental slogans near the parliament with teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons. When the protesters got closer to the government headquarters, police fired tear gas, forcing thousands to flee.
The “You Stink” campaign is a grassroots activist network that arose out of public frustration and anger over the trash buildup in Beirut in particular and Lebanon more generall in July 2015.
Minister of Education Elias Bou Saab told LBCI: “I am not honored to be part of this government”, and accused Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq of overreacting and ordering the “attack on peaceful protesters”.
Mohamed Abu Basha, an economist at Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes, said politicians might reach a compromise to resolve the country’s immediate economic crisis, “which has been the equation governing the country for a few years now”.
In what appears to be an attempt to calm down protesters, Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk said the name of the consortium that will be in charge of waste management in Beirut and Mount Lebanon will be announced on Monday, a day ahead of schedule.
Many other politicians also issued statements sympathising with the protesters, including Saad Hariri of the Future Movement, and the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party led by Michel Aoun.
Some residents have resorted to burning rubbish on the streets, sending toxic fumes over the city’s skyline and into homes.
He called on Lebanon’s cabinet to meet this week to find a solution to the crisis, railing against political divisions that have paralysed the country’s institutions.
A Lebanese Red Cross official said 20 protesters were injured, including 13 who were hospitalised. An online group calling itself “You Stink!” and other civil society groups organized the rallies, calling on Lebanese to join them in a revolt against the corrupt system.
Lebanon does not have a president and parliament remains in a stalemate.
Around 9:10 p.m., You Stink spokesperson Ali Bazzi called on protesters to evacuate Downtown Beirut and return to Riad al-Solh Square Monday for a fresh protest. “Lebanese authorities should respect the protesters’ rights and listen to their demands for a sustainable solution to the garbage crisis”.
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“The trash is the straw that broke the camel’s back, but the story is much bigger than this straw”.
