Clashes erupted Tuesday, August 4 in Beirut between riot forces and demonstrators who tried to storm the premises of the Ministry of Energy to protest against the increasingly frequent power cuts in a country plunged into crisis.
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The rationing of electricity has lasted for decades in Lebanon, where the energy sector is the symbol of the mismanagement of public services and corruption of which the political class is accused. But since June the cuts have increased sharply, sometimes lasting 20 hours a day, in scorching heat.
A handful of protesters managed to break through the security cordon around the Energy Ministry headquarters. STR / AFP
During the day, a handful of protesters managed to break through the security cordon around the headquarters of the Energy Ministry and camp briefly in the outer courtyard, according to AFP correspondents on the spot. Others were prevented from doing so by riot police, sometimes with batons. Angry protesters then briefly cut off the road leading to the ministry.
" Departure of the whole " of the ruling class
" Your presence will plunge Lebanon into darkness, " hammered a spokesperson for the demonstrators, calling for the resignation of the Minister of Energy. " We are here because it is the first nest of corruption, " Rihab, a protester told AFP, assuring that the " solution " to this crisis is through " the departure of the whole " of the ruling class. . At the end of the afternoon, a small number of demonstrators were still gathered in front of the ministry.
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Faced with the cuts that have lasted since the civil war (1975-1990), residents have had to turn to private suppliers in their neighborhood who charge them a high price for electricity supplied by generators. The energy sector, in particular the public company Electricité du Liban (EDL), is the subject of many suspicions of corruption. A real financial pit for the state, it has already cost the Treasury more than 40 billion dollars.
Lebanon is ranked among the 42 most corrupt states in the world according to the NGO Transparency International. STR / AFP
Lebanon is ranked among the 42 most corrupt states in the world according to the NGO Transparency International. Several energy sector reform plans since the end of the civil war (1975-1990) have gone unheeded. EDL reform is the main demand of international institutions and donor countries to help Lebanon emerge from an unprecedented economic crisis marked by an unprecedented depreciation of its currency and which has plunged nearly half of the population into poverty. According to a report by the international firm McKinsey, the country has the fourth worst electricity grid in the world.
