Political elite accused of hijacking Lebanon's protests as demonstrations approach third week

Lebanese demonstrators say supporters of Hezbollah and others undermined protests by taking part in them

Small but consistent protests erupted in Lebanese cities last week as the currency fell against the dollar. But despite widespread anger at a culture of mismanagement and corruption in Lebanon’s government, the size of the demonstrations reflected a dwindling hope of effecting change.

Fewer than a hundred people gathered in Martyrs’ Square, the protest hub of Beirut, on day two of the demonstrations last Wednesday. It was a far cry from the one million people who chanted, danced and sang at the beginning of the protest movement in October 2019.

Protesters say supporters of the political elite have taken to the streets, undercutting the momentum of a protest movement already weakened by the coronavirus pandemic and internal  disputes.

Haneen Malak, 27, said she feared the political elite, against whom she has been protesting for the past year and a half, had infiltrated this week’s protests.

“Some people who were standing with us on the first day were cheering for their sectarian leaders,” the young teacher said.

She heard them calling out the names of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his ally and head of the Amal movement, Nabih Berri.

Supporters of political parties have routinely terrorised protesters in the past year and a half, but they also joined them on occasion. Amal and Hezbollah partisans took to the Ring intersection in downtown Beirut last June, one week after they had clashed with protesters at that same spot.

Ali Abbas, a lawyer and activist at the Popular Observatory to Fight Corruption said different political parties have been trying to either co-opt or repress the movement “since day one”.

As internal divisions, intimidation and the coronavirus pandemic weakened the October 17 movement, activists said political parties attempted to reassert their dominance on the street this week by laying roadblocks separating regions along sectarian lines.

The Lebanese army reopened blocked roads on Wednesday after nine days of protests.

“Political sides are using the roadblocks to pressure one another into compromising over shares of ministerial portfolios” Mr Abbas said

His group took part in a march this weekend, avoiding roadblocks.

Lebanon has been ruled by a caretaker Cabinet since Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned last August after the Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people and destroyed large parts of the capital.

Government formation has dragged on as political parties quarrel over their ministerial shares.

Political inaction in the face of a severe economic crisis has filled many Lebanese with pessimism.

Mustapha Dhaiby, 30 and unemployed, is one of hundreds of people who took to the streets daily in the past week. He says many others are fatigued.

"People have lost hope, that's why they don’t protest like before," Mr Dhaiby said.

Imad Salamey, an associate professor at the Lebanese American University said the roadblocks brought back memories of civil war, pushing crowds away from the streets.

“Roadblocks remind people of war-era checkpoints that divided Lebanon along sectarian lines,” he said.

“This is powerful symbolism that induces fear.”

By being on the ground, supporters of political groups “managed to spread fear among protesters and undermine the sustainability of the movement,” Dr Salamey said.

Their presence also asserts their grip over areas inhabited by their respective communities whereas the October 17 movement was anti-sectarian at its core.

The protest movement has not been a united front since its infancy, with deep rifts quickly emerging between groups, especially over the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons.

These divisions have increased in the past few weeks.

Days before protests erupted the spiritual leader of Lebanon’s largest Christian sect called for neutrality and a monopoly of state power over arms, a direct criticism of Hezbollah. It is the only militant group that has held on to its arms after the end of the civil war in 1990.

Backlash from the Iran-funded group and its allies further entrenched those two camps.

“The government has, to some extent, won this round by turning the debate into Christian versus Muslim, Al Rahi versus Nasrallah, East versus West,” Dr Salamey said.

Despite a low turnout this week, activists believe that rising poverty and desperation means that a new round of protests is inevitable.

"When people go hungry they will curse their leaders and go back to the streets," Ms Malak said. "Because the children of their leaders are replete."