Protests across the country are growing slowly, reuniting people from all parts of Lebanon in the streets to protest the difficult living conditions.
On Wednesday night, Tripoli’s revolutionary square was turned into a warzone after authorities resorted to using lethal force to clamp down on the protests.
Over 200 injuries were reported among both protesters and security forces who used live ammunition against unarmed protesters.
“In a country that has the largest economic, social, environmental, constitutional, and political crisis in history, it is not strange that Tripoli is protesting, it is strange that the rest of the regions are silent,” wrote TV host Hicham Haddad.
However, it’s worth noting that people in Beirut, Sidon, and Tyre took to the streets in solidarity with the hundreds of protesters of Tripoli, rising up against the deteriorating situation, the lockdown, poverty, and lack of government support.
Tripoli might be making the loudest noise because its people are so poor they have nothing left to lose, but their scream for help is being heard by revolutionaries across the country.
All the while, Lebanese politicians keep putting off the government formation that would rescue Lebanon, merely due to differences over the division of portfolios.
Lebanon has been without a fully functioning government for over 5 months now – and has been suffering multiple crises for long before that.
Yet, the country’s senior officials are more worried about what’s in it for them rather than what’s best for the citizens.
They are playing the blame-game and accusing each other of different things instead of claiming any kind of responsibility or doing the least that is expected from someone in their positions.
On one end, President Michel Aoun claims PM-designate Saad Hariri is lying about the government formation process.
On the other end, Hariri is blaming Aoun for obstructing the Cabinet formation for the sake of his son-in-law Gebran Bassil.
Now, Michel Aoun is reportedly looking for a way to extend his presidency because according to an FPM MP, “not extending President Aoun’s mandate is an injustice against him and a portion of the Lebanese population.”
Actually, what’s an injustice is the fact that over 5 months since the devastating explosion at the Beirut Port, the investigation has gone nowhere.
No one has been held accountable yet for causing one of the world’s biggest non-nuclear explosions, leaving families of the victims without closure and without justice.
In addition, the official decision to reopen the country around the holiday season has led to catastrophic consequences with coronavirus infections in Lebanon going out of control.
Now, as Lebanon tries to right its wrongs by enforcing a strict lockdown, it is closing the doors to people’s livelihoods, the daily wages which they need to survive.
Still, with all this, Lebanon’s President and PM-designate are sitting idle, bickering, and prolonging government formation for personal gains.
Needless to say, the paralyzed government, which is numb to the excruciating needs of its citizens, is responsible for riots and unrest in the streets of Lebanon.
