Protesters in Lebanon insisted on Tuesday they will stay in the streets for a sixth day even after the government approved an unprecedented package of economic reforms.
The protesters have declared a general strike, sending a clear signal that they reject the measures Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government agreed upon on Monday.
Among the reforms is a 50-percent reduction in salary for former and current politicians and ministers; the abolishment of the Ministry of Information and a number of other state institutions; and the establishment of an anti-corruption panel.
Hariri also vowed that no new taxes would be imposed – but for many protesters it is too little, too late.
The protests – Lebanon’s biggest in years – broke out on Thursday over the cash-strapped government’s plans to impose new taxes, but have since widened into calls for the country’s entire political class to step down.
Security forces have attempted to persuade protesters to reopen roads across Lebanon through peaceful means, but will not use force if they refuse, a security source told Reuters news agency.
“If they are convinced, so be it, if they are not the roads will remain closed,” the source said.
“We will not clash with the protesters and make a problem on the ground,” the source told Reuters.
Some roads had been reopened in the south, the source added.
Banks and schools remained shut, and the number of protesters in the morning in central Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli appeared smaller than on previous days.
Late on Monday, soldiers skirmished in Beirut with young men on motorcycles holding the flags of the powerful Shia movements Hezbollah and Amal. Both parties denied any role.
Lebanese authorities are tightening security in the capital, Beirut, amid calls for more protests, according to Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr.
“The Lebanese security forces are out in force, preventing protesters from blocking roads,” she said, reporting from Beirut.
However, protesters are “still defiant” and want to “keep piling pressure on the government to resign,” she said, adding: “They are accusing the security forces of trying to crush the protest movement.”
Protesters in Lebanon insisted they will stay on the streets for a sixth day even after the government approved an unprecedented package of economic reforms.
The demonstrators have declared a general strike, sending a clear signal they reject the measures Hariri’s government announced on Monday.
Among the reforms was a 50-percent reduction in salaries for former and current politicians and ministers, and a vow to not impose any new taxes.
