Report: Lebanese Protesters Invite for Rallies this Week

W460

Lebanese have called for mass rallies this week to protest against the country’s “economic and financial deterioration,” after months of mass anti-government rallies brought to a halt over the coronavirus outbreak, media reports said on Monday.

A statement issued by Lebanese "rebels" voiced calls on protesters and the “arenas of the October 17 uprising” to engage in vehicle rallies that are to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday,Ad-Diyar newspaper said.

The statement said protesters should abide by the Interior Ministry’s virus curfew orders in order “not to be used as an excuse to suppress the demonstrators,” according to the daily added.

As part of preventive measures against the spread of coronavirus, Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi released earlier in April a circular regulating traffic on the basis of even and odd license plate numbers.

Over the weekend, several hundred people protested in the northern city of Tripoli, in Saadnayel and in the southern city of Sidon, despite the country's coronavirus lockdown, marking six months since mass rallies broke out over government corruption and economic hardship.

The initial rallies on October 17 last year were sparked by a raft of new taxes, and quickly morphed into a street movement calling for a full overhaul of the political class.

According to the “Rebels” statement, the protests were halted to “protect ourselves and our people and relatives from the pandemic. But the latest rapid developments and the spike of the dollar rate to the Lebanese pound, the poverty, the hunger and government’s inaction to alleviate the suffering of citizens to suppress the high prices.”

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