BICOM

An Arabic media report suggests that Hezbollah is attempting to hijack public protests in Beirut over poor governance, to bring about the downfall of the Lebanese government itself.

The mass protests over the weekend, dubbed the “You Stink” movement, was sparked by huge amounts of uncollected rubbish in the city. The complex system of government in Lebanon is designed to maintain a balance of power between the country’s various ethnic and religious groups. However, the presidency which is reserved for a Christian has remained vacant for more than a year, while parliamentary elections have been repeatedly postponed. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s government, which includes pro-Western parties and close Hezbollah allies has been hampered by internal differences and has been unable to take even basic decisions, such as waste disposal in Beirut.

The street protests have seen demonstrators clash heavily with Lebanese police. However, Lebanese politicians told the London-based Al-Arab newspaper that, “Hezbollah is using the rubbish crisis to topple the government of Tammam Salam and to create a power vacuum amid the Parliament’s failure to choose a new president who is acceptable to everyone.” While the protests originally focused solely on the issue of rubbish collection, sources told Al-Arab that “the turning point in the protests started when Hezbollah operatives joined the demonstrations.” Protestors have now begun to call for the overthrow of the government, in particular targeting Tammam and his interior minister, Nouhad Machnouk, considered opponents of Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, which receives huge financial and material backing from Iran, already effectively controls large swathes of southern Lebanon, bordering Israel and is thought to have amassed an enormous arsenal of rockets. Last week, MP Mohammad Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, said that there is “greed and rottenness inside state institutions.” He explained that because, “The state is too weak to be able to address a garbage crisis,” some political parties are asking Hezbollah to be granted “an authorisation for deciding war and peace with the Israeli enemy.”