Geagea Urges Salam Not to Resign, Says Protesters Must Seek President Election

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Sunday urged Prime Minister Tammam Salam not to resign before the election of a new president, while warning anti-government protesters that “anger” alone cannot resolve the country's growing crises.

“The grievances of the protesters are our grievances ... The garbage crisis has reached an unaccepted level,” said Geagea at a press conference in Maarab.

“There is rampant corruption and incompetency. The demands that are being voiced at the Martyrs Square are legitimate and I voice solidarity with the protesters,” he added.

However, the LF leader cautioned that the current “anger outburst” cannot solve the country's problems.

“It is true that this government must leave and it is true that new parliamentary elections must be held, but what will we do if the government and the parliament resign? What is the alternative amid the current presidential vacuum?” Geagea wondered.

He noted that protesters in downtown Beirut “must remain there until MPs head to parliament and elect a new president.”

“Once a new president is elected, the government would be automatically rendered resigned. The difference is that you can form another government in the presence of a president,” Geagea explained.

Accordingly, the LF leader urged PM Salam not to resign, noting that “he is responsible for maintaining legitimacy in the country until the election of a new president.”

Geagea also called on Salam to “call an immediate cabinet session” to address the extraordinary situation in the country.

He said that the government must seek to “collect the garbage from the streets immediately” and to discuss the excessive force that was used against protesters in Saturday's demo.

Addressing protesters, Geagea said “it is prohibited to undermine public order and it is unacceptable to attack security forces.”

“I urge the protesters to preserve the public order or else they would be harming their legitimate demands,” he added.

Earlier on Sunday, Salam said he was ready to meet with protesters, admitting that "excessive force" had been used against the demonstrators.

Protesters headed back to central Beirut on Sunday morning, joining those who had spent the night there in tents after evening protests spiralled into clashes with security forces that left more than 50 demonstrators injured.

Protests in recent weeks have called for a comprehensive solution to Lebanon's trash crisis, which has seen piles of waste growing in Beirut and elsewhere since the country's largest landfill shut down on July 17. 

But demands posted online on Sunday by the "You Stink" campaign, which has organized recent protests, called for the government's resignation and parliamentary elections.

The group also called for the prosecution of security forces who had fired on protestors and of Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq.

Y.R.