Monday, February 28, 2011

Lebanon: Hundreds of demonstrators against sectarianism

Several hundred people demonstrated in Beirut Sunday, February 27 against the confessional system in Lebanon. "The revolution is everywhere ... Lebanon, it's your turn!" Chanted the demonstrators, mostly youths, referring to the revolts that shook the Arab world. Echoing the mantra of the uprisings that shook Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, "the people want to bring down the regime," they walked in the pouring rain on the streets of Beirut to the courthouse, framed by the police and the army.

Some soldiers looked on with amusement, others took their picture. More than 2600 people had announced their participation in the march, but it seems the rain has deterred many activists. "Go Lebanese, you rebel against sectarianism", "We want a civil state," "Confessional, blood, civil wars, enough!", "Revolution against feudalism, against segregation!" Shouted the protesters.

"The sectarianism is bad for you, please you abstain," "Tyrants of Lebanon, your turn will come for sure," their signs proclaimed. The Lebanese system is a complex mixture of power-sharing quotas based on community and a tradition of "consensual democracy". Since independence in 1943, guarantees equality between Muslims and minority Christians in the region.

However, it is accused of being behind all the ills of the country such as corruption, waste, cronyism and especially a destructive civil war (1975-1990) and repeated crises. "The Lebanese must stand up, they continue to follow the leaders of their faith even if they are starving," indignant Ali Engineer 28 years of work.

"Here we do not have a single dictator but a good score," said Amer Saidi, a political science student, who said "secular". According to experts, this fight, even if taking the magnitude, will be long term, because of the complexity of the system that guarantees a delicate balance between the 18 Christian denominations and Muslim countries.

No comments:

Post a Comment