Lebanon: anger and insecurity three weeks before the legislative elections

Mourners fire in the air on Monday April 25 during the funeral of a victim, killed after a boat loaded with migrants capsized near the coast of Tripoli, in northern Lebanon.

AFP - IBRAHIM CHALHOUB

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

The anger of the Lebanese is growing against the political class, accused of inaction in the face of the multifaceted crisis affecting the country, and of irresponsibility after the sinking of a boat with more than 80 illegal migrants off the coast of Tripoli.

The tension resulted in armed incidents in several regions of the country this Monday, April 25, three weeks before the legislative elections scheduled for May 15.

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With our correspondent in Beirut,

The funeral of the victims of the sinking of a boat carrying more than 80 illegal migrants took place this Monday, April 25 in an atmosphere of anger, mixed with sadness in Tripoli, in North Lebanon.

Six people died and 33 are missing after this tragedy.

Shots were heard during the funeral in the city, the scene of violent clashes between armed men on Sunday amid an electoral dispute.

One person was killed.

Residents of Tripoli have also let their resentment burst against the army, whose patrol boat is accused of having struck the boat transporting illegal immigrants.

►Read again: A migrant boat is shipwrecked off the Lebanese coast

Mourners carry the bodies of a child and his mother, in Tripoli, in northern Lebanon, during a funeral on Monday April 25, 2022. AFP - IBRAHIM CHALHOUB

In the same context, the Minister of Energy Walid Fayad was taken to task when he left a bar in Beirut by people who accused him of partying, while the bodies of those who disappeared from the sinking did not yet been found.

The minister was violently pressed against a wall by protesters who filmed the scene.

The incident comes as the state has been providing only one to two hours of electricity per day since last summer.

Also in Beirut, violent clashes opposed two opposing clans in a neighborhood.

These incidents reflect the exasperation of the Lebanese because of the inability of political leaders to alleviate their suffering, three weeks before the legislative elections.

►Read also: Shipwreck off Lebanon: “Here, what future do we have, me and my children?

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