FPM to Join Kataeb's Bourj Hammoud Sit-in to Say 'Street Protests are an Option'
The Free Patriotic Movement is expected to join the Kataeb Party and the Tashnag Party in a protest scheduled for Tuesday outside the Bourj Hammoud garbage landfill, in a move aimed at sending a “message” that “street protests are an option,” a media report said on Tuesday.
The FPM's participation comes less than 24 hours prior to Kataeb chief MP Sami Gemayel's trip to Moscow where he will take part in “a series of Russian talks with Lebanese leaders, especially Christian leaders,” al-Liwaa newspaper reported.
A Christian source described the FPM's participation as “an attempt at polishing its image and at sending a message to the relevant parties that street protests remain one of its options.”
The movement's street protests would begin in “the second half of September when the decision to extend the term of Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji starts to loom,” the source added.
Kataeb protesters have been staging a sit-in outside the landfill for several days now in an attempt to prevent the dumping of unsorted garbage at the site, citing environmental and health concerns.
Gemayel held a press conference several days ago during which he criticized the minister in charge of overseeing the waste management emergency plan, Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb, vowing that Kataeb's protests will continue.
Gemayel also accused the Council for Development and Reconstruction of being involved in “suspicious” waste management tenders.
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