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Opposition marks First Anniversary of Beirut Sit-in |
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Sunday, 02 December 2007 |
Thousands of supporters of Lebanon's Hizbullah-led opposition marked on
Saturday the first anniversary of their open-ended sit-in in Downtown Beirut
aimed at bringing down the government.
They gathered in Riad Solh Square in the city center, where the opposition has a
protest camp outside the offices of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
They waved Lebanese flags as well as the banners of Hizbullah, Amal and the Free
Patriotic Movement (FPM) of opposition presidential candidate MP Michel Aoun and
a number of other opposition parties.
"One year for the sit-in for national unity," said one placard. "One year
against monopoly," read another.
The protest continues as Lebanon grapples with a political vacuum that has left
the presidency vacant since November 23 because of a standoff between Siniora's
March 14 Forces and the opposition.
"The Lebanese nationalist opposition is ready for a settlement through a
consensual president and a government of partnership," Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj
Hassan told the rally.
"But the opposition is also ready today to pursue its [protest] action, if the
other party led a different track, away from consensus and partnership," he
said.
The opposition wants a government of national unity installed in place of
Siniora's administration, which is considered illegitimate after six Shia cabinet ministers resigned.
"We will continue to stay in the downtown area until the government falls,"
Zaynab, 37, a woman from the southern Shia suburbs of the capital,
told AFP.
"We are here to support the opposition," she added. "This [Siniora's] government
is illegitimate and guided by remote control by foreigners."
"We don't feel like we are represented in this government, so it should go
away," said Hizbullah supporter Sara Bazzi, 40.
"The opposition is at least 2 million people if not more, so when [the
government and its supporters] say that they represent the majority, they are
telling a lie," she added.
The standoff between the government and the opposition has seen six
postponements of parliamentary sessions to elect a president. Lebanon has been
without a head of state since former President Emile Lahoud stood down at the
end of his term at midnight on November 23.
Also speaking during Saturday's rally, retired LT. General Issam Abu Jamra,
representing the FPM, said that his party did not object to the candidacy of the
commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman in the
presidential election.
Suleiman's name has recently emerged as a suitable presidential candidate,
whereby groups from all across the Lebanese spectrum expressed their support for
his candidacy last week.
"The FPM would be proud and happy if General Suleiman became president and
rumors about us being upset are totally unfounded," the former military officer
said.
"Any Lebanese would be glad if Suleiman, who has preserved stability as well as
national cohesion and fought terrorists, becomes president," Abu Jamra added.
Comments posted are the sole opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of AIM. |
