by Paul Dakiki

Minimum force used. Protesters call for solutions to not only waste crisis, but also to year-long political stalemate over president.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - The Lebanese police managed to remove a group of demonstrators who yesterday had occupied the Environment Ministry, demanding the minister’s resignation, in their view, unable to deal with the waste crisis.

The occupation of the ministry lasted about nine hours. Police used only a minimum of force, contrary to what happened a few days ago when a demonstration in Beirut dissolved into violence.

The "You stink" group was created to criticize the situation of waste collection in the country, a month after the main landfill in Naameh closed its doors. But now it has turned its gaze from criticizing urban waste to the political situation: above all the failure to elect a president for more than a year; the extension of the mandate of the parliament until 2017, in the absence of a new electoral law; the desire to overcome "sectarianism" in the distribution of powers.

According to an unwritten "pact", the Lebanese presidency should go to a Christian; the post of head of government to a Sunni; the presidency of the parliament to a Shiite. Internal tensions between the groups related to various families who have dominated politics for decades, coupled with opposition to the outside influence of Saudi Arabia and Iran,  make it difficult to find a common solution. Even the Christian political spectrum is divided.

Added to this are tensions related to the situation in the Middle East. Because of the war in Syria and the violence in Iraq, over 1.6 million refugees have found refuge in Lebanon (equal to almost a third of the population) putting a strain on the economy and services in the country.

• LEBANON
• you
• stink
• urban
• waste
• protest
• politics