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"Nous voulons que la classe politique libanaise nous rende des comptes !" - Rita Sassine et rédaction. Répondant à l'appel à manifester lancé par le collectif de la société civile "Vous Puez! ", des dizaines de milliers de Libanais, venus de tout le Liban, se trouvaient, samedi soir, sur la place des Martyrs, pour exprimer leur rancœur envers une classe politique jugée corrompue et incapable d'offrir les services de base. Parmi eux, Sélim, âgé d'une cinquantaine d'années. "Je suis là à titre individuel car je suis dégoûté. Nous voulons que la classe politique nous rende des comptes", dit ce Libanais travaillant dans la restauration. Cette campagne de protestation est née avec la crise des déchets qui sévit au Liban depuis la fermeture programmée, le 17 juillet dernier, de la décharge de Naamé, au sud de Beyrouth.

"Dans d'autres pays, les responsables politiques démissionnent pour moins que ça. La place des Martyrs, samedi, ressemblait à une mer de drapeaux libanais, distribués par les organisateurs de la manifestation. (Voir : Place des martyrs : les images de la manifestation) #YouStink postpones protest following Sunday chaos. BEIRUT – The Tol3et Ree7atkom ("You Stink") grassroots activist group has cancelled a protest planned for Monday evening after chaos and violence erupted following a demonstration on Sunday, in which one protester suffered severe head wounds. “The demonstration planned for today at 6:00 p.m. was postponed for reasons we will announce at a press conference this afternoon,” the group—which is now calling for the resignation of Lebanon’s government—announced Monday morning. “Our movement did not and will not stop. Our march today will be postponed to a later date this week,” the group said in a later statement. “This is not retreat, however we simply need to re-evaluate and sort out our demands as well as listen to what the people have to say.”

Thousands of Lebanese poured into Downtown Beirut on Sunday for the second day running after a demonstration Saturday evening was suppressed by the security forces with rubber bullets, tear gas canisters, water cannons, and even live bullets. #YouStink: Recycling 'cornerstone' of solution to Lebanon garbage woes. The ongoing garbage crisis has forced Lebanese to take to the streets, but pushing for a recycling-based solution, not calling for revolution, is the only way forward, argues Karim Traboulsi There are many different views on how to tackle Lebanon's one-month-old garbage crisis. Yet everyone agrees that the usual sweep-it-under-the-rug approach of the Lebanese government can no longer work. Indeed, the current problem is a turning point for an issue that many believe has been 40 years in the making. Lebanon's civil war (1975-1990) put a freeze on any progress on waste management in the country. After the end of the civil war, due to a combination of factors - arguably led by incompetence and corruption - the Lebanese government failed to develop a modern solution to manage the country's waste, and resorted to burying it in landfills with little to no downstream processing.

It was only a matter of time for Lebanon, a tiny mountainous country, to run out of space for its waste. Enter the state. - The Lebanese Economic Crisis 101 (Part 1) In November 2019, Lebanese banks imposed severe restrictions on the ability of local depositors to make cash withdrawals and international transfers from their dollar accounts. As of February 2020, Lebanese banks doubled down on their “capital control” policies, transforming their weekly limits into bi-weekly limits as low as two hundred US dollars ($). Depositors could withdraw additional amounts from dollar accounts so long as they were converted to Lebanese liras (LL) at the official exchange rate of approximately 1508 liras per dollar, while the market rate rose to well over 2000 liras per dollar. As March 2020 enters its final week, expectations are that the banking sector will completely halt withdrawals and international transfers from depositors’ dollar accounts.

More recently, on 7 March 2020, Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced that Lebanon would not repay the eurobond debt due on 9 March 2020. What are Eurobonds? What Does This Have to Do with Lebanon? 2 radically different interpretations of Saudi's 'great purge' and Lebanese PM Hariri's 'resignation' Yesterday was among the most strange of days in recent Saudi history.

It started with the shock resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister and Saudi citizen Saad Hariri shortly after he met with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and ended with the announcement that 11 princes, 4 serving ministers and around 30 ministers in total have been arrested on corruption charges, ostensibly as part of Muhammad Bin Salman’s (MBS) sweeping “reforms” to the Wahhabi Kingdom.

In between these events, Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a missile which nearly hit King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, before being intercepted by a Saudi missile. Later, Saudi media stated that the Houthi rocket was an attempt on Hariri’s life, a claim which seems quite outlandish given the crude nature of Houthi weapons.

In putting the pieces of this puzzle together, it is important to explore both obvious, subtle and counter-intuitive hypotheses for what all of this means. 1. 2. 20.14% Voting Turnout in Beirut: Beirutis Don’t Want Change … Yet. Posted By : Najib by Yasmine Darwiche The Beirut municipal elections are over, the turnout was very low (20.14%) when compared to other regions, Beirut Madinati lost and the Beirutis List has won. A lot of people are upset and disgusted by the results, but I think we all knew deep inside that the likelihood of an outside list winning in Beirut is almost impossible especially when all the political blocks in the country rallied against them.

So what do we make of these elections? 20.14% Voting Turnout: A very low yet insignificant percentage Beirut has always had the lowest voting turnout in Lebanon but this low turnout is due to the fact that a lot of Beirutis live abroad (35% is the unofficial percentage). Since these numbers are almost impossible to get, the simplest thing is to allow Lebanese expats to vote abroad in order to improve the turnout and give everyone the opportunity to vote. Social Media influence on Elections is still minimal in Lebanon. 2018 Parliament: Hariri cedes ground to Hezbollah alliance, LF emerges victorious - Georgi Azar - An-Nahar English. BEIRUT: Lebanon's first parliamentary elections in nine years delivered a blow to Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement, who saw his bloc decrease from 34 to 18 MPs, while the Lebanese Forces (LF) emerged as the biggest winners after their party captured 15 seats, up from 8 in 2009, according to preliminary results.

In terms of coalitions, however, Hezbollah and Amal lived up to expectations after capturing 25 seats along with their allies, while the FPM and their allies secured 26 parliamentary seats. Hariri bore the brunt of the newly ratified electoral law after it fragmented the Sunni vote, yet Hezbollah reaped in the rewards after maintaining its hegemony along with Amal over the Shia community. After numerous delays, political bickering, and extensions, Lebanon held its first parliamentary elections in nine years under a proportional representation system which was supposed to usher in heightened participation across the board. A 9 mesi dalle elezioni, il Libano ha un governo. Il Libano ha formato un governo di unità nazionale a quasi nove mesi dalle elezioni legislative, che si erano tenute a maggio 2018 e avevano visto la vittoria, con 45 seggi su 128, delle forze alleate a Hezbollah, gruppo radicale sciita alleato dell’Iran e del regime siriano di Bashar al Assad.

Il partito del primo ministro uscente, il sunnita Saad Hariri, si era fermato a 20 seggi, perdendone un terzo rispetto alle elezioni precedenti. Hariri è stato comunque scelto come primo ministro; il suo governo è sostenuto dall’Occidente e include le forze alleate a Hezbollah (come era già successo negli ultimi anni), che hanno scelto il ministro della Sanità. Nel governo ci sono quattro ministre, tra cui quella degli Interni e dell’Energia. Nella capitale Beirut l’accordo è stato accolto con festeggiamenti in strada e fuochi d’artificio. Hariri dovrà affrontare una situazione economica e finanziaria complicata e limitare in particolare il debito pubblico, uno dei alti al mondo. A Fair Electoral Law For Lebanon | Moulahazat. Disclaimer: All the numbers used in the proposal are based on Lebanon’s 2013 electoral lists that I took from the awesome lebanonelectiondata.org website. The numbers could be a bit inaccurate (the government sometimes forgets to remove deceased electoral voters), but it’s the only thing I could have worked on right now.

Lebanon’s quest to find a fair electoral law has so far been a failure. Throughout the 1940s and the 1950s, the different Lebanese governments were accused of holding elections under gerrymandered laws that kept them in power. Parliamentary elections were known to be rigged in order to safeguard Bechara El-Khoury’s regime and promote Khoury’s reelection. Khoury eventually left power, but in 1957, a new electoral law resulted in the defeat of several of the opposition’s leaders throughout the republic, and the accusations of gerrymandering as well as the calls for a fair electoral law were among the main elements that led to the 1958 uprising.

A Fair and Flexible Law. A Look at the Key Players In the Lebanese Elections. A potential breakup. Today, the 33rd parliamentary session set to elect a new president was postponed until 7 January, due to lack of quorum. Suleiman Frangieh, suggested after Future Movement head Saad Hariri’s initiative, was not elected as the new Lebanese president. But the controversy Frangieh’s candidature has created in the Lebanese political scene has not gotten any better, especially between the Future Movement and the Lebanese Forces. The divergence between the parties is more obvious today than ever. After the parliament session, Ahmad Fatfat, Future Movement MP, said that Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea is still his party’s candidate as long as no consensual candidate is suggested.

In return, Lebanese Forces MP Georges Adwan said Hariri’s initiative will not cause a clash between the two parties. Thus, the two parties are trying to maintain a common ground in order to spare Lebanon a dead-end political crisis. “It is obvious that the relationship is really bad,” said analyst Hazem Saghieh. An Infographic: A decade into the Cedar Revolution. Anadolu Agency. Analysis: Saad Hariri resigned as Lebanon's PM, what comes next? Another round of Hezbollah - Future Movement tension. Relations between Future Movement and Hezbollah have been strained since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Certain periods have been more stable than others, but never less tense. The dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement kicked off in December 2014. Back then, officials from the two parties stressed the importance of the talks in securing and maintaining a minimum of stability in Lebanon.

In the beginning, the dialogue was seen as a very positive step for future relations between the two parties. “There are two reasons for the current tension between Future Movement and Hezbollah,” analyst Kassem Kassir told NOW. Analysts NOW spoke to say that the main reason behind the tension is Machnouk’s statement after being accused of establishing ties with Hezbollah. Concerns have been raised that Future Movement ministers might resign from the cabinet, but analysts say it’s unlikely. “Most probably, the dialogue will continue,” said Kassir.

Aoun sees role for Hezbollah until threats to Lebanon cease. NEW YORK — Lebanese President Michel Aoun, speaking to Al-Monitor Wednesday evening prior to his address before the UN General Assembly today, said that any solution to “the problem of Hezbollah” would have to come as part of a wider solution to the crises plaguing the region. Aoun, who as head of the Free Patriotic Movement met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2006 to agree on defining relations between the two groups and disarming Hezbollah, said that Lebanon cannot ask the latter to disband as long as the country still faces threats. “You cannot say to Hezbollah, ‘We have to dismantle your organization,’ since Israel is provoking Lebanon and it is attacking,” he explained.

The president also spoke about the refugee crisis facing his country, which now hosts upward of 1.5 million displaced Syrians. Yet Aoun said international parties should focus on helping Syrians get back to their homes, rather than merely providing support to those displaced. Aoun: Well, to help us. Aoun to Sign Laws of Wage Scale and Tax Hikes.

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية by Naharnet Newsdesk10 minutes ago President Michel Aoun will sign the wage scale law and the tax hikes laws set to fund the scale after rectifying some “gaps,” the National News Agency reported on Friday. The President will sign the laws not before long after a decision was taken to rectify some flaws, NNA added. The salary scale and the accompanying tax hikes, approved to fund the scale, were discussed during an economic dialogue meeting that Aoun had invited to at the Baabda Palace on Monday. After the meeting it was acknowledged that the tax hike laws included some “flaws” which need to be rectified.

The new taxes involve hiking the VAT tax from 10% to 11%, fines on seaside violations, and taxes on cement, administrative transactions, sea imports, lottery prizes, financial firms and banks. Aoun, Hariri to Start Trips Abroad. Aoun: Lebanon Must Not Pay Price for Regional Conflicts. By Naharnet Newsdesk21 hours ago President Michel Aoun stressed on Monday during talks with Arab League chief Ahmed Abu el-Gheit at the Presidential Palace that Lebanon must not “pay the price for regional conflicts,” after its closing statement a day earlier that named Hizbullah party a “terror” organization. “Lebanon is not responsible for the Arab and regional conflicts that some Arab states are witnessing. Lebanon did not carry out any aggression against anyone and it should not pay the price of these conflicts,” Aoun told Abu el-Gheit who arrived in Lebanon Monday. The President added: “Lebanon can not tolerate a suggestion that the Lebanese government is a partner in terrorist acts. Lebanon's stance declared through its representative at the Arab League yesterday expressed a national will.”

The closing statement of an emergency Arab League meeting on Sunday labeled Hizbullah as “terrorist”, which prompted Lebanon’s representative to voice reservations over certain clauses. Aounist unease as Hezbollah fails to rally partners. When Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea made the historic move last Monday of endorsing the presidential candidacy of his wartime nemesis, former Lebanese Armed Forces chief General Michel Aoun, the latter’s path to the presidential palace he had long coveted was supposed to be secured at last. With the stated support of both his largest Christian rival and the most powerful faction in the country, Hezbollah, the various blocs of the pro-Damascus ‘March 8’ coalition would fall into line and Aoun would be guaranteed the requisite 65 votes at parliament, with or without the backing of the anti-Damascus Future Movement and the centrist Progressive Socialist Party (PSP). Things, however, haven’t quite turned out that way.

On Monday, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri of March 8’s Amal Movement, whose parliamentary weight is equal to Hezbollah’s at 13 MPs, said he would be voting not for Aoun but rather a rival March 8 nominee, Marada Movement head MP Sleiman Franjieh. Arab League Designates Hezbollah as a Terrorist Organization. Assad will stay and refugees must go, says Lebanon president. Au Liban, sur les pavés, l'ordure. Beirut 'ground zero', colpo mortale al Libano - Mondo - ANSA.

Beirut burns as Lebanon protests new taxes. Beirut close to striking deal with Jabhat al-Nusra for release of servicemen. Beirut explosion: Five conspiracy theories explained. Beirut explosion: Five conspiracy theories explained. Beirut explosion: Russian who owned explosives is questioned. Beirut Port Blast Crater 43 Meters Deep Says Security Official. Beirut Protests: 'Way out is to follow the constitution and elect a president' - Mario Abou Zeid by Radio Sputnik. Beirut protests: After explosions, demonstrators storm ministry building.

Beirut: oltre 100 morti e 4mila feriti. Le autorità: 'Aria tossica, chi può lasci la città' - Mondo - ANSA. Berri Criticizes Arab League's Label of Hizbullah. Can Hariri Co-exist with a Strong Christian President in Lebanon? Can Lebanon’s Old Guard forge new social contract? Christian party quits Lebanon gov't amid mass protests - World News. Civil Society Announces Electoral Coalition in Nine Districts. Compromise and concessions: Lebanon’s new electoral law.

Cracks within Hezbollah? | Middle East Briefing. Diab Says to Propose Early Elections, Ready to Stay in Post for 2 Months. Diseases? What diseases? Dopo una notte di sangue a Tripoli, tra la tristezza della città e l’insolenza della politica. Elisa Campioni - In agosto Netanyahu, #Israele, aveva... Elisa Campioni - Misteri del porto di #Beirut --- Tra le domande... Families of missing soldiers await official news. Five takeaways from the Lebanese elections. Five trends to watch in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections. FM to introduce bill allowing women to pass citizenship - Georgi Azar - An-Nahar English.

Foreign powers scramble to prop up Lebanon government. French foreign minister: IMF only way out of Lebanon crisis. Full list of Lebanon's new cabinet. Fury over Beirut blast fuels protests, clashes with police. Geagea fustige, une fois de plus, le projet de visite à Damas de ministres libanais. Gente di Beirut: eterno bersaglio – INTEMPERIE. Governo Libano: 72 ore per rispondere a quattro richieste! | MAKTUB.

Hariri Defends 'Dialogue with Hizbullah', Says CEDRE to Create '900,000 Jobs' Hariri didn’t want to give Hezbollah political cover, says Iran expert. Hariri to Appear in TV Interview from Saudi Arabia. Hariri's resignation is unconstitutional: Berri. Hariri: Bassil Remarks Not Positive, New Govt. Still Expected within 10 Days. Hariri: Lebanon's Stability More Important Than Problems Surrounding Us. Hariri: Nasrallah Speeches Don't Benefit Lebanon, Govts. Can't be Formed without Hizbullah. Hezbollah leader Nasrallah hanged in effigy by Lebanese protesters - The Jerusalem Post. Hezbollah says Lebanon PM's resignation 'imposed' by Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah Weighs In On Lebanon Rubbish Row. Hezbollah's fate in Syria linked to Iran. How Lebanon’s Constitutional Council Shamed the Parliament | Moulahazat. How Michel Aoun Became the President | Moulahazat. Il Medio Oriente oltre la retorica. Intervista a Lorenzo Trombetta - Pandora Pandora.

Il vero pericolo per Hezbollah - Gli occhi della guerra. In Lebanon: New Government, Old Politics. In Libano la partita presidenziale finisce con Teheran 1 e Ryad quasi 0. In Libano non è guerra ai rifiuti, ma scontro politico. In Libano è stato formato un nuovo governo. Is Iran behind Iraq and Lebanon’s ‘Awakening?’ - Al Arabiya News. Is Lebanon’s New Electoral System a Path Out of Sectarianism? Israel threatens to kill Nasrallah over repeated warnings to occupation state. Israeli analyst says 'Hezbollah is involved' in Beirut blast. Jumblat: We've Become Part of 'Greater Syria', U.S. Reshuffle 'Alarming' Latest Lebanon protests fail to attract large crowds. Le Liban encourt le « danger » d’une normalisation des relations avec Damas - Sandra NOUJEIM. Lebanese Cabinet holds meeting without FPM. Lebanese government agrees on plan to end trash crisis | News | DW.COM | 09.09.2015.

Lebanese Municipal Elections Overview: 4 Weeks Later. Lebanese PM alleges ‘coup attempt’ on his government failed | Al Arabiya English. Lebanese PM Hariri resigns, attacking Iran, Hezbollah. Lebanese PM steps down in wake of Beirut explosion, protests - World News. Lebanese president asks Hassan Diab to form government. Lebanese vote: A victory of antagonisms. Lebanon approves plan to end garbage crisis Anadolu Agency. Lebanon budget crisis puts employees’ wages at risk: Khalil. Lebanon deserves proportional representation in elections. Lebanon elections 2018: Politics as usual | Lebanon. Lebanon finally has a new government. What's on its agenda? Lebanon forms government after nine months of bickering - An-Nahar English.

Lebanon government approves trash plan. Lebanon tax law: Protesters turn on PM Saad al-Hariri. Lebanon to hold long-delayed parliamentary elections on May 6.