Lebanon: the protest resumes in force after two months of confinement
Audio 01:20
Protesters in the streets of Beirut.
March 12, 2021 © RFI / Noé Pignéde
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
In Lebanon, the protest movement is gaining momentum, as the Lebanese pound continues to collapse.
The national currency is now traded at 11,000 pounds to the dollar, the lowest rate on record.
The minimum wage, equivalent to 450 dollars a year and a half ago, is now only worth 60. In addition to this economic crisis, there is the political crisis: it has been 7 months since the country of the cedar government.
On March 12, hundreds of Lebanese took to the streets to demand regime change and concrete measures to end the crisis.
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With our correspondent in Beirut
,
Noé Pignède
It's a crowd like Beirut hadn't seen for several months.
The faces are happy, the slogans have always been the same for a year and a half.
All are asking for the departure of the political class.
Meryem, an early revolutionary admits: she had lost the desire to demonstrate, but today, hope is reborn.
“
I'm happy to be here, to see so many people from different walks of life protest together again.
Lately everything has been very blurry and disorganized, and a lot of the people I used to take to the streets have left the country.
But I know they are always with us in thought.
The soul of the revolution is not dead.
It may have weakened a bit, but the mobilization continues, and that gives hope.
"
Same state of mind with Sam, delighted to see that the Lebanese are remobilizing after two months of confinement.
Also delighted that the soldiers, who have often repressed the demonstrations, are showing today benevolent towards the procession.
“
Before, the army stayed on the side, today the soldiers are marching with us.
This is the first time that this has happened because they too are fed up.
They are Lebanese like us, they are on our side
.
We are here, we want to resist and we will end up winning
”.
The young man promises that the economic and political crisis will once again push thousands of Lebanese into the streets in the coming weeks.
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