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There were further clashes between Lebanese protesters and law enforcement officials near the parliament in Beirut on Sunday evening in the aftermath of violent clashes that injured dozens of people.
The anti-power protesters threw bottles of water and firecrackers at the police, who replied with tear gas and water cannons, according to an AFP photographer.
Waving Lebanese flags, the demonstrators, mobilized since October 17 against a political class accused of corruption and incompetence, chanted all day long slogans hostile to the resigning Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
On the eve of parliamentary consultations to appoint a new head of government, the protesters - who demand a cabinet made up of technocrats and independents - refuse a possible reappointment of Mr. Hariri, who resigned on October 29 under street pressure.
The main political leaders still seem completely autistic ... They do not understand the extent of this movement of anger ...
Karim Emile Bitar, Professor of International Relations at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. 12/15/2019 - by Nicolas Falez Play
Monday will be "the moment of truth," said UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Twitter. "Either the politicians will show (...) that they understand the needs of Lebanon (...) or they will remain trapped in their habits. "
Dozens of people were injured in Beirut on Saturday evening, security forces using tear gas and rubber bullets. These clashes are " shameful because we are peaceful ", was indignant with AFP Nour, a protester.
The clashes erupted when demonstrators tried to cross a police roadblock blocking the entrance to an avenue leading to the Parliament, before continuing elsewhere in the city center, enveloped in the thick smoke of tear gas.
An AFP photographer then saw men in civilian clothes clubbing demonstrators. Riot police fired rubber bullets and protesters threw stones, the source said. According to the civil defense, 36 people were hospitalized and 54 others treated on the spot.
Read also : Protests in Lebanon: Beirut as a battlefield
The Lebanese Red Cross said it had transported 15 wounded to hospitals and treated 37 people there, according to a report given to AFP. The injured were civilians, but also members of the security forces.
The Internal Security Forces spoke on Sunday of 20 wounded in their ranks, evacuated to hospitals, and others treated on the spot.
In the aftermath of this violence, French diplomacy chief Jean-Yves Le Drian called on France Inter radio " the Lebanese political authorities " to " shake up ", believing that the country was " in a dramatic situation ".
Multiplication of clashes
These clashes are the most significant since the start of the mobilization, which generally took place in calm. Clashes have recently escalated and the security forces have used force several times.
Interior Minister Raya el-Hassan on Sunday demanded that the Internal Security Forces open a " quick and transparent " investigation to determine responsibility for the violence.
She evoked the presence of people "infiltrated" and alerted the demonstrators on "parties" who would try to "instrumentalize" the rallies to provoke a "confrontation" with the police.
The head of the Internal Security Forces, Imad Othman, called the demonstrators for restraint. " We must all be peaceful, " he said.
On Twitter, Diala Haidar, from the NGO Amnesty International, denounced an "excessive use of force" by the security forces, referring to the presence of men in civilian clothes, sometimes masked, attacking the demonstrators.
"Emergency" reforms
So far, the main parties in Lebanon have failed to agree on the successor of Mr. Hariri who continues to manage current affairs with his government.
Because if the political system of Lebanon must guarantee the balance between the different religious communities, it opens the way to endless negotiations. The formation of the new cabinet could therefore drag on, in a country economically on the brink.
Gathered Wednesday in Paris , the main international supporters of Lebanon, including France or the United Arab Emirates and the United States, conditioned any financial aid to the establishment of an "effective and credible" government, which would quickly commit "emergency" reforms.
The World Bank forecasts an economic recession for 2019 with a negative growth rate that would exceed -0.2%. About a third of Lebanese live below the poverty line, according to the organization.