Protests Spotlight Lebanon Dysfunction, But Reforms Elusive

BEIRUT (AP) — Anti-government demonstrators in Lebanon have staged three large rallies in the past two weeks and a small group Tuesday stormed the environment ministry to press demands for reform. The trash became a pungent reminder that the government has failed since the end of the 1975-90 civil war to provide basic services such as a steady flow of water and electricity. The system was meant to keep the peace, particularly following Lebanon's 15-year civil war, but has fostered patronage and weakened state institutions. The Syrian civil war has thrown Lebanon's shaky political arrangements further into disarray. Since 2011, more than 1 million Syrian refugees have poured into Lebanon, while Lebanon's most powerful group, the Shiite militia Hezbollah, became involved in fighting in Syria. Amid mounting external and internal threats, squabbling politicians have been unable to agree on a date for overdue parliament elections, last held in 2009, or on a new president. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called for talks between the prime minister and various party chiefs in coming days, an idea endorsed by Hezbollah, the leader of Lebanon's main Sunni party Saad Hariri and the leader of the Druze sect, Walid Jumblatt.

Topics:  beirut ap     anti-government   shiite   parliament speaker nabih berri   sunni   saad hariri   druze   walid   jumblatt   lebanon   syria   hezbollah   civil   war   party   group   leader   

 

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