Lebanese Rally to Back President After Unrest

Date: 03 November 2019 - 21:20

News ID: ۷۲۳۵۶

BEIRUT (Dispatches) -- Lebanon's president called on the country to unite behind his reforms on Sunday following weeks of anti-government protests.
In a live televised speech, aired across Lebanon, Michael Aoun addressed the thousands of people who came out to support him before he spoke.
"I call on you all to unite," Aoun said. "It won't be easy, and we want your efforts."
A huge convoy of cars, some waving Aoun's orange Free Patriotic Movement party flags and his portrait, snaked across a highway on Sunday while a sea of protesters marched to the Baabda palace, where he lives.
The protesters were seen waving Lebanese flags and orange banners of his party as they lined up on a one-mile road in the town of Baabda leading up to the presidential palace.
Sunday's rally for Aoun was the biggest counter-protest to the wave of anti-government demonstrations that have gripped the country, leading to the fall of prime minister Sa'ad Hariri last week.
Diana, an Aoun supporter, said she came out to support the embattled president as she believed he was not "corrupt" or a "thief".
"There has been corruption in the state for 30 years. The president isn't responsible. He's trying to fight against it," Diana told AFP.
Calm appeared to return to the streets of Lebanon this week, with roads being re-opened and banks opening to customers after being shut since the protests began two weeks ago.
However, restrictions were reported on foreign-currency withdrawals and transfers abroad.
Lebanon's economy has stagnated in recent years in the wake of political flare-ups, compounded by the foreign-backed war in neighboring Syria.
The International Monetary Fund said last week that sluggish growth had given rise to the unrest, in which protesters have decried government corruption and economic mismanagement.
Hariri had attempted to appease them by halving the salaries of minister and MPs and promising to reform the energy and telecom sectors, but protesters continued to pour onto the streets, leading to his resignation on Tuesday.
It is still unclear what Lebanon's new government will look like.
In a speech after Hariri's resignation, Aoun signaled support for the protesters' demands, saying ministers should be chosen "according to their competencies and expertise, not political loyalties".
In the same speech, Aoun also struck a defiant one, defending his three years in power.
He listed the "achievements" of his presidency, starting with fighting "terrorism" - referring to battles in east Lebanon against Takfiri groups, including Daesh terrorists.
Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, which backs Aoun, has said Hariri's resignation will waste valuable time in enacting measures needed to tighten state finances and convince foreign donors to release some $11 billion in pledged aid.
While protests have waned since Hariri resigned, demonstrators continue to demand a new government cable of carrying out the badly needed economic reforms.