Activists in Hunger Strike for Minister Resignation as 2 Held for Disabling Parking Meters

Several anti-trash activists began a hunger strike Thursday outside the Environment Ministry in Beirut to press for Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq's resignation as two protesters were arrested in Ain el-Mreisseh for disabling parking meters that were recently installed in the area.

The hunger strike was started by the activist Waref Suleiman, who was later joined by four other activists, the You Stink campaign said on its Facebook page.

The protesters erected tents on the pavement facing the ministry building.

Suleiman told LBCI television later on Thursday that the number of hunger strikers had risen to eleven.

"I want him to feel our pain," 25-year-old protester Salah Jbeili said. "He is responsible for the trash problem. We will fight him, like we will fight all corrupt politicians."

The development comes two days after riot police forcibly cleared dozens of You Stink activists who had occupied part of the environment ministry to press the minister to resign over his perceived failure to address the unprecedented garbage crisis.

Several protesters were injured in the operation.

A protest movement that began with rallies against the garbage piling up in the streets of Beirut garnered much support among the many Lebanese angered by the government's failure to find a solution after the main landfill was closed in July. Protests have grown beyond the garbage issue and now target the government and entire political class.

Protesters say the minister, Mohammed al-Mashnouq, has become a symbol of the government's inefficiency and corruption. Machnouq has said he will not resign.

Meanwhile, plain clothes policemen arrested two protesters from the We Want Accountability campaign who were disabling parking meters on the seaside corniche during a sit-in in Ain el-Mreisseh.

The campaign identified the detained activists as Bashar al-Harakeh and Hussam al-Anan, saying the solar-operated meters deny poor residents free access to the public space.

The arrests prompted the protesters to head to the Interior Ministry building in Sanayeh where they blocked the road and vowed not to reopen it until the release of their comrades.

Later on Thursday, state-run National News Agency reported the release of the two activists.

NNA also said that Beirut Governor Judge Ziad Shbib ordered "the suspension of the parking meters that were installed along the city's seaside corniche."

Another sit-in was held Thursday outside the Labor Ministry building in the southern Beirut suburb of Msharrafiyeh.

The protest was organized by the August 29 Movement, a coalition of activists and groups that took part in the August 29 mass rally in Beirut's Martyrs Square.

In a statement recited at the sit-in, the movement called for “holding authorities accountable for stealing public funds, the environment minister's resignation, accountability for those who gave the orders to use force against peaceful protesters, and releasing the funds of municipalities to allow them to play their role in managing waste.”

It also called for “creating job opportunities for youths, supporting agriculture and industry, and organizing parliamentary polls to restore the role of institutions in a manner that serves the interests of people.”

The growing protest movement began with frustration over rubbish collection and ballooned into anger at a stagnant and corrupt political class.

The protesters gained additional popular sympathy after security forces used excessive force against them during an August 22 mass rally in downtown Beirut.

Y.R.