Vast amounts of people took to the streets in Lebanon on Sunday in protest of government corruption; Number of protestors said to be in the hundreds of thousands; Protestor: We’re here to say to our leaders, ‘leave’.
On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of citizens took to the streets throughout Lebanon in protest of their abusive government. Sunday was by far the largest turnout in the last four days of protest. This civil unrest is similar to what is taking place in other countries such as China, Haiti, and Venezuela, to name a few.
Government corruption is not a new thing. Sadly, many nations around the world don’t know anything different because corruption has been embedded for so long. In Lebanon, people have been living through economic poverty for some time, and are now demanding that the government make it right. On top of that, the government is now seeking to implement new taxes on extremely questionable items. One of the items is WhatsApp, the communication app used around the world because of its accessibility and price-IT’S FREE. Is there any question as to why people would outrage over that?
Lebanese citizens are now calling for their leadership as a whole to step aside. They feel, and rightfully so, that the government lacks any good intentions and has been taking advantage of the citizens for an indefinite amount of time. One protestor even said, “We’re here to say to our leaders ‘leave’. We have no hope in them but we’re hopeful that these protests will bring change…They came to fill their pockets. They’re all crooks and thieves,”.
Though Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is promising government reform and other officials have resigned as of Sunday, the people are calling for protest on Monday for a complete government makeover.
