Lebanese activists raise a stink about trash crisis, government paralysis
Lebanese civil movements continue to call for democratic reform, but government officials protest that real change will be decided, as always, outside Lebanon.
The streets in Beirut are starting to look like open air sewers, with rivers of garbage after heavy rains hit the capital since Oct. 25. New demonstrations took place on Oct. 29 by the civil society movement “You Stink” demanding that the government find a solution to the garbage crisis.
The group is also pressing the current government to address the underlying problem of the institutional vacuum created by nearly two years without a president.
While the views and priorities by government representatives and civil society differ considerably, they appear to converge superficially on some topics. The You Stink movement was born out of the practical need to resolve the garbage crisis that began in July.
However, the movement’s mission has put forward other demands for accountability and transparency and called for the election of a president and for a new electoral law.
