Beirut, Lebanon, 19 January 2020 (GNP): Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister has advised politicians to form a new government immediately and “stop wasting time” to find solutions for the Lebanese economic crisis in order to “calm the popular storm.”
“We feared for Beirut yesterday, but as usual, it has stitched the wounds of its sons from the ranks of the security forces and protesters and removed from its face the remains of anger, rioting and the smoke of blazes,” Hariri wrote on his official Twitter page on Sunday, after a night of violent clashes between security forces and protesters. “We plead to God for the recovery and safety of all those wounded and for sparing our country the threat of descending into strife. There is a way to calm the popular storm. There is a way to calm the popular storm. Stop wasting time, form a government and open the door to political and economic solutions. To keep the army, security forces and protesters in a state of confrontation is to circle inside the problem,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s public prosecutor ordered the release of about 34 people, detained on Saturday during night riots on Saturday between Lebanese anti-government protesters and security forces in Beirut. Clashes lasted for almost nine hours with hundreds injured including both protesters and members of the security forces.
Protesters have assembled against the country’s political elite who have ruled Lebanon since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. They blame politicians for widespread corruption and mismanagement in a country that has accumulated one of the largest debt ratios in the world. (GNP)