Hariri Throws Support behind PM, Says Govt. Fall would 'Plunge Lebanon into Unknown'
Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri on Sunday stressed his support for the stances expressed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam in the wake of Saturday's violent protests, while warning of attempts to “topple the government.”
Condemning “any form of extreme security measures in facing peaceful protests,” Hariri cautioned in a statement against “attempts to drag the country into chaos and the unknown.”
The ex-PM noted that the mission of the government is to “reinforce security and stability and manage the affairs of the state until the problem of the presidential vacancy, which has been going on for over a year, is resolved.”
“This vacancy reflected negatively on the path of the state as a whole and on the work of the government and its tasks of managing public affairs and meeting the needs of people,” said Hariri.
He added: “We admit that there is a deficiency in resolving a national crisis that is affecting every village and city in Lebanon, but protesting against the garbage crisis and demanding a fast solution to it is one thing, and demanding to topple the government and the system is another thing.”
The former premier warned that “toppling the government means toppling the last legitimate stronghold and taking Lebanon into the unknown.”
“We will not allow the collapse of Lebanon and its legitimacy, and we stress at the same time that the garbage crisis will not remain captive of political disputes; it will find realistic solutions in the coming days,” Hariri pledged.
Earlier on Sunday, Salam said he was ready to meet with protesters, admitting that "excessive force" had been used against the demonstrators.
Protesters headed back to central Beirut on Sunday morning, joining those who had spent the night there in tents after evening protests spiralled into clashes with security forces that left more than 50 demonstrators injured.
Protests in recent weeks have called for a comprehensive solution to Lebanon's trash crisis, which has seen piles of waste growing in Beirut and elsewhere since the country's largest landfill shut down on July 17.
But demands posted online on Sunday by the "You Stink" campaign, which has organized recent protests, called for the government's resignation and parliamentary elections.
The group also called for the prosecution of security forces who had fired on protestors and of Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq.
Y.R.
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