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Bloomberg
Lebanese protesters flocked to the capital on Tuesday and forced parliament to postpone its session indefinitely after facing off with the army and anti-riot police, adding to a political storm in the country even as banks reopened after a weeklong closure.
The legislature will meet at a later date after demonstrations prevented enough lawmakers from reaching it to form a quorum, with some questioning the legitimacy of a session in the absence of a government. Amid the mayhem, vehicles
belonging to deputies sped through central Beirut, with shots heard as a convoy of two cars tried to disperse people.
The deepening crisis that’s gripped Lebanon for a month has paralysed the economy, put pressure on its decades-old currency peg and raised the threat of default. Prime Minister Saad Hariri stepped down late last month and demonstrators are demanding a government of technocrats to avoid an impending financial meltdown.
The legislature on Tuesday was set to discuss a series of anti-graft bills as well as a general amnesty law that protesters say will extend to those who committed financial and environmental crimes, offenses they accuse the political elites of carrying out.
Before the parliamentary session was postponed, security forces cordoned off entrances leading to Nejmeh Square in Beirut to prevent people from approaching the building and allow lawmakers to enter the session.
Adding to the unease, dozens of people stood outside banks in Beirut and elsewhere, with at least one security personnel stationed nearby to prevent a repeat of confrontations between employees and clients. Lenders, who have been closed for much of the past month, have jointly adopted a set of restrictions on the movement of capital to ward off financial chaos.
Frustration has built as president Michel Aoun has yet to set a date for parliamentary talks to name a new premier. Major political parties nominated a wealthy businessman to lead the cabinet but he withdrew his candidacy after a backlash from protesters. The worsening sentiment is playing out in the market. The yield on the government’s bonds maturing in April 2021 has almost quintupled this year to over 50%, with the price collapsing to less than 60 cents on the dollar. In central Beirut the tension was palpable.
A member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Ali Ammar, walked up to parliament but was heckled and quickly confronted by protestres. Police were removing metal barricades they had set up to allow some vehicles belonging to lawmakers to make their way into the session.
A group of lawmakers said they only planned to appear to elect legislative committees but would not attend the broader session.
“They shouldn’t go in because they need to focus on something else,†said one of the protesters, who didn’t give his name. “We need a government of technocrats, not a parliament session,†he said as he stood outside the entrance of downtown Beirut facing security forces.