The 2019-20 riots in Lebanon also known as the October revolution emerged as a series of civil protests against the government and the prevailing political and economic crisis of the country. These were initially triggered by the proposed austerity measures including taxes on gasoline, tobacco, popular social media apps such as WhatsApp, but they quickly expanded to include calls for an end to corruption and for better basic rights such as water, electricity and sanitation. The economy of the country was in a dire state with a high unemployment rate which further escalated the protests. The protests erupted on 17 October 2019 and were continued for more than 302 days.
Political Conditions
Lebanon is a country that divides its political power along with religious and sectarian rights. Power-sharing is a whole different thing in Lebanon, with the stated intention to give every group an equal say in the political affairs of the country, the system has tried to maintain a fragile peace. This unique decayed and mismanaged sectarian political system is one of the most important reasons for the protests. This system was formed under the Taif agreement in 1989 and is perceived as exploited by the current Lebanese politicians.
Due to this faulty system, the government has failed to provide even the basic rights to the citizens. Since 1975, there has been no stable 24- hour electricity in the country. The people have no access to drinking water except through purchasing bottled water through private companies. The country even suffers from deficient sanitation and sewage infrastructure, which led to the 2015-16 protests as against the “garbage crisis”. Thus the political conditions in the country were in a dire state with the lack of basic rights and no plan of action for solving the problems
Economic Conditions
From 1997, the Lebanon government has tried to maintain a pegged exchange rate between the USA dollars and Lebanese pounds. Yet its economic fundamentals are among the worst in the world. It is one of the most indebted nations; its government debt is estimated at 155 per cent of gross domestic product. The country imports vastly more goods and services than it exports and the government budget deficit was around 10 per cent of the GDP in 2019. The excessive borrowings of the government had inflated the politically well-connected banking sector that lends to the state at high-interest rates.
Also since the country depends on imports, currency devaluation raised prices for imported goods and eroded the living standards. Lebanon’s unproductive economy which revolves around banking and real estate even created great income inequality. The burden on financial institutions was light, while indirect taxes paid by everyone, such as value-added tax (VAT), were continuously increasing. While the wealthy and politically connected earn state-induced banking profits, the state was drained of the resources to tackle social and environmental crises. Thus the economy was in a stagnant state, unemployment had reached 46% in 2018, and endemic corruption was prevailing in the public sector. All these factors further escalated the protests of 2019-20.
Protests Against the Government
Due to the prevailing political and economic crisis in the country, protests against the government authorities began in October 2019. The initial reason for these protests was to fight against the new tax policies introduced by the government and though the tax reform plan was quickly scrapped yet the protests continued. They expanded it for a much significant cause and long-standing grievances such as increasing level of corruption, dire level of the economy, high unemployment rate, and lack of basic rights. As violence continued, the prime minister tried to defend him and blamed the rival groups and his government for blocking reforms. Prime minister blamed his coalition government for obstructing reforms to unlock 11 billion dollar aid pledged by international donors. To tackle the ongoing situation, the cabinet of ministers introduced a lot of economic and political reforms and even formed an anti-corruption panel. Yet still, the people weren’t satisfied and they demanded the resignation of the government.
Finally on 21 January 2020, the prime minister announced the formation of a new cabinet of 20 ministers, bringing an end to several months of riots that have left the country in a deepening economic crisis. On 27 January, the Lebanon Parliament passed a 2020 budget, amid the debilitating financial crisis. The budget was highly criticized by the citizens and though the government claimed that the newly formed ministers were experts and academics, protesters still accused the political groups of participating in forming the new cabinet.
With these ongoing crises in the country, came the coronavirus pandemic which worsened the situation. Due to lack of resources and health care workers, the county’s health care system turned out to be a failure. The lockdown situation led to further weakening of the economy. The people continued these protests but with more precautions and fewer in numbers. But on 4th august 2020, the capital of the country Beirut was hit by a massive explosion.
Beirut Explosion and Government Resignation
On the afternoon of 4th august 2020, two explosions occurred in Beirut, causing at least 220 deaths and 6000 injuries. About 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been confiscated by the Lebanese government from the abandoned ship MV Rhosus and then stored in the port without proper safety measures for six years has led to the massive explosion. As a result of this disaster, the Lebanese government declared a two-week state of emergency.
On 6th August 2020, as an aftermath of this event, protests erupted in various parts of the counties against the government for their failure to impede the explosions. As violence increased and more and more people started protesting against the government, Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his cabinet resigned on 10th august 2020. In his last speech as the prime minister, he blamed the country’s ruling class for hindering the reform plans and worsening the economic crises. Then he proceeded to the presidential palace where President Michel Aoun approved the resignation of his cabinet. Despite the fact that Diab’s government has resigned, protests in Lebanese are still going on against the economic crisis that the country is currently facing.
Conclusion
The protest which initially began as a rebel against the tax reform policies of the government later became a fight against a high level of corruption, lack of basic rights and economic crisis ultimately led to the resignation of the government. People might consider this as a victory for the Lebanese people but in reality, the economic and healthcare situation in the country is still in a very detrimental state. People lack even the basic necessities like water, sanitation, and electricity. The coronavirus pandemic has made the situation in the country even worse and has led to the death of thousands of people. Adding further to this, the country was hit by the Beirut explosion which wrecked the entire state. The country is in a very poor condition with a lack of healthcare workers and increasing economic crisis. Various countries are trying to help the country deal with such a crisis but yet recovery in the near future seems quite impossible for the Lebanese people.
