A number of Lebanese demonstrators were injured in confrontations with the security forces in central Beirut, as they tried to prevent the parliament from holding the session during which the budget was approved in 2020.
A number of demonstrators from all Lebanese regions gathered in the vicinity of the Najmah Square, where the Parliament is located, in an attempt to enter the Parliament, and prevented the deputies from reaching the session. The security forces, which managed to remove the demonstrators, arrested a number of them, and as a result, a number of people were wounded.
And units of the Lebanese army took extraordinary security measures in the vicinity of the House of Representatives and the main and branch roads leading to it to secure the session.
The Council approved the budget yesterday, although the head of the Finance and Budget Committee, Ibrahim Kanaan, said that the expected revenues may not be realistic because the country is facing a major economic and financial crisis. The head of the committee told Reuters that the expected deficit in the budget is 7% of GDP, which is greater than the originally hoped rate of 0.6% as the economy shrank and suffocated due to the liquidity crisis. The Saad Hariri government had drafted the original budget for 2020 before it resigned last October under the pressure of protests, and before parliament, Prime Minister Hassan Diab, whose government was formed last week, said his government would not obstruct the budget of 2020 prepared by his predecessor. Some parties boycotted the session and a debate took place regarding the constitutionality of the session, as the Diab government did not submit its ministerial statement yet and did not gain confidence and the budget numbers are not returned.
- 7% of the expected deficit rate from the gross domestic product.