Lebanon protesters force parliament to postpone already long-overdue session

Lebanese protesters have blocked roads leading to the parliament’s building in Beirut to prevent lawmakers from reaching the site, forcing the legislative chamber to postpone what was supposed to be its first session in two months.

The legislature was due to convene on Tuesday following a two-month-long hiatus brought about by security concerns amid angry protests across Lebanon against the country’s drawn-out economic woes.

According to footage broadcast by Lebanese media, gunfire was heard as a number of protesters prevented two SUVs with official number plates from approaching the parliament. Other vehicles were also struggling to make it through throngs of protesters.

Heavy clashes were reported between security forces and a group of protesters attempting to make their way into the parliament.

The nationwide demonstrations, which began on October 17, has worsened Lebanon’s already dire economic situation.

The Lebanese Finance Ministry says the national debt is hovering around $85 billion, which accounts for more than 150 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), while the World Bank also says more than 25 percent of the Lebanese live in poverty.

Earlier in the day, banks in Lebanon reopened for the first time in a week

The United States and its Persian Gulf allies have imposed sanctions on Lebanese economic assets and figures for alleged cooperation with the country’s Hezbollah resistance movement.

PressTV-'US, allies exploiting Lebanon unrest for own interests'

A top Hezbollah official says the US and allies are taking advantage of the protest movement in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has defended the country against two wars waged by Israel, the US’s closest regional ally, in the 2000s. The heroic defense as well as the group’s stiff opposition to foreign intervention in Lebanon’s internal affairs has turned it into a major stakeholder in the country’s political and military spheres.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned on October 29 amid the turmoil. Most recently, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was quoted by the Al Joumhouria newspaper as saying that Lebanon resembles a sinking ship in light of the anti-government protests.

“If we don’t take the necessary steps, it will sink completely,” the parliament head said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, in recent comments to media, said “political understandings” would take place between “the parties and even with leaders of the protest movement” to form a new government.

The new government’s agenda would help to calm down the streets, he noted.

Both Hezbollah and Berri have said their preference is for Hariri to return again as premier, a post reserved for a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon’s power-sharing system.

The nominee for the post should be endorsed by President Aoun, who himself should consult members of parliament.

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