Call for govt change in Lebanon
Print Edition
Lebanon’s highest Christian authority yesterday called for a change in government to include qualified technocrats and urged the president to begin talks to address demands of demonstrators in the streets for the seventh day.
Throwing his weight behind demands for at least some change in government, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai was the first major religious figure to wade into the crisis.
With a population of 6 million including around 1 million Syrian refugees, Lebanon has been swept by unprecedented protests against a political elite blamed for a deep economic crisis.
Flag-waving protesters kept roads blocked around the country with vehicles and makeshift barricades yesterday, while banks and schools remained shut.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri’s government announced an emergency reform package on Monday to try to defuse the anger of protesters demanding his government resigns and also to steer the heavily indebted state away from a looming financial crisis.
Rai said the measures were welcome but also required replacing current ministers with technocrats.
He did not demand Hariri’s resignation.
Hariri’s government, which took office at the start of the year, groups nearly all of the main parties in the Lebanese sectarian power-sharing system.
“The list of reforms is a positive first step but it requires amending the ministers and renewing the administrative team with national, qualified figures,” Rai said in a televised speech.
“We call on the president of the republic ... to immediately begin consultations with the political leadership and the heads of the sects to take the necessary decisions regarding the people’s demands,” Rai said.
The president is drawn from his Christian Maronite community.
Political sources said a reshuffle was being discussed.
The idea of a change in government was “starting to mature,” the source said.
“But it is not there yet. Not everyone is at the same state of emergency.”
“The street is imposing its rhythm on the political class, the political class has to be dynamic with it. It is a standoff — who will concede first?” the source said.
Lebanon’s unrest is the latest in a flare-up of political protests around the world — from Barcelona to Santiago — each having its own trigger.
Troops scuffled with demonstrators yesterday as they struggled to clear main roads. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Shi’ite, said Lebanon could not remain in chaos and said he feared any power vacuum.
“Everything the political class is doing now is clearly to buy time ... the reform list is a lie,” said protester Manal Ghanem.
“Today the demand is for the government to fall.”
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