Nadine Awadalla, Eric Knecht -- BEIRUT (Reuters) - Protesters prevented Lebanon’s parliament from holding its first session in two months on Tuesday, escalating a wave of demonstrations against rulers blamed for steering the country towards economic collapse. Banks reopened after a one-week closure, with police stationed at branches and banks applying restrictions on hard currency withdrawals and transfers abroad. The protests erupted last month, fuelled by corruption among the sectarian politicians who have governed Lebanon for decades. Protesters want to see the entire ruling class gone from power.

Lebanon’s economic troubles have increased since then. Despite the depth of the economic crisis, the worst since the 1975-90 civil war, politicians have been unable to form a new government since Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri quit on Oct. 29. Near parliament on Tuesday, gunfire was heard as several dozen protesters forced two SUVs with official plates and tinted windows to turn back as they approached the building, Lebanese television showed. The vehicles sped away after they were struck by demonstrators chanting “Out, out, out!”

Parliament postponed the session indefinitely. “This is a new victory for the revolution and we are continuing until we achieve our goals,” said protester Abdelrazek Hamoud. The session’s agenda had included reelecting members of parliamentary committees and discussion of an amnesty law that would lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners. Protesters were angry the MPs were not tackling their demands for reform. Security forces had fanned out before dawn, shutting down roads around parliament with barbed wire. Police scuffled with protesters who tried to remove a barbed wire barricade. A protester waves a Lebanese flag next to a bonfire during ongoing anti-government protests in Beirut, Lebanon November 19, 2019. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares Ahmad Mekdash, a civil engineer, said: “They should be meeting right now to form a new cabinet and not to pass laws, especially laws that aren’t urgent.”

By BASSEM MROUE and MARIAM FAM -- BEIRUT (AP) — Young men chanting the “people want to bring down the regime” gathered outside the office of Lebanese legislator Mohammed Raad, the powerful head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc. One shirtless man grabbed a metal rod and swung it at the sign bearing Raad’s name, knocking it out of place as others cheered. It was a rare scene in the southern market town of Nabatiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold. The protests engulfing Lebanon have united many across sectarian lines and shattered taboos, with some taking aim at leaders from their own sects, illustrating a new, unfamiliar challenge posed to the militant group.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah built a reputation among supporters as a champion of the poor and a defender of Lebanon against Israel’s much more powerful military. It and its Shiite ally, the Amal party, have enjoyed overwhelming backing among the Shiite community since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, making them a political powerhouse that, along with allies, has dominated recent governments. But now many protesters group Hezbollah into the ruling class they are revolting against, blaming it for wrecking the economy with years of corruption and mismanagement. Protesters want that entire political elite out. Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and Amal’s chief, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, have not been spared. “All of them means all of them, and Nasrallah is one of them,” protesters have chanted at some Beirut rallies. The demonstrations that erupted Oct. 17 spread throughout the country, including predominantly Shiite areas in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley. “The heavy participation of the Shiites ... posed a main challenge: that there’s a large number from the sect that doesn’t accept the current situation,” said Hilal Khashan, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut. “That’s why there was a swift and decisive decision to nip this in the bud.” In several instances, men suspected of being Hezbollah and Amal supporters beat up protesters and destroyed their tents. Some of those who had criticized Nasrallah and Berri on social media appeared in videos, after apparently being beaten, to apologize for what they did. Amal denied any link to those behind the beatings, saying in a statement that they should be arrested and that they violated the movement’s belief in freedom of opinion. Hezbollah has survived many threats over the past years, including charges by a U.N.-backed tribunal for the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005 — an accusation Hezbollah strongly denies — a ruinous war with Israel in 2006 and the war in neighboring Syria, where Hezbollah has sent thousands of fighters to back President Bashar Assad, losing an estimated 2,000 men.

by thenational.ae -- Sunniva Rose -- As Lebanese politicians seemed to be caught in a disastrous deadlock on Sunday, the anti-establishment protest movement scored its first electoral win, voting in an independent to lead the Beirut Bar Association. Melhem Khalaf won by a comfortable margin against Nader Gaspard, a candidate backed by the Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanese Forces, Progressive Socialist Party and the Future Movement. Pierre Hanna, previously backed by the LF, PSP and Future Movement, withdrew his candidacy in favour of Mr Gaspard to try to secure his win. “We hope this day will renew democracy within Lebanon’s institutions,” Mr Khalaf said in his victory speech. Until now, the Beirut Bar Association had not taken a formal stance on the month of mass protests against corruption, poor governance and a crumbling economy.

But as Mr Khalaf’s name was announced, many in the crowd of lawyers at the tally cheered and broke into chants of "thowra", or revolution. Meanwhile, a plan by parties to form a new government to tackle the dire economic situation and address the demands of protesters appeared to fall apart. Two days after he was chosen by Lebanon’s most powerful political parties to be the country’s next prime minister, veteran politician Mohammad Safadi withdrew his candidacy on Saturday evening. As the country faces a possible “total economic meltdown with potential violence”, its political system is “completely paralysed” by the mass protests that started on October 17, analyst Imad Salamey said. After resigning on October 29, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri had reportedly agreed to meet protesters half-way by forming a small government of technocrats. An apolitical government is one of the key demands of protesters. Triggered by a suggested tax on WhatsApp calls, the protest movement quickly became a rejection of the entire Lebanese political system, based on sectarianism. But Mr Hariri’s proposal was reportedly dismissed by President Michel Aoun, who wants politicians to be part of the new government.

by AFP -- BEIRUT: The US embassy in Lebanon said on Saturday it supported the one-month-old anti-government protest movement in Lebanon. “We support the Lebanese people in their peaceful demonstrations and expressions of national unity,” the embassy said on Twitter. Lebanon has since Oct 17 been swept by an unprecedented cross-sectarian protest movement against the entire political establishment, which is widely seen as irretrievably corrupt and unable to deal with a deepening economic crisis. The government stepped down on Oct 29 but stayed on in a caretaker capacity, and an economic crisis has also battered the country.

Some local players, notably the powerful pro-Iranian Shiite movement Hezbollah, have accused “external parties” and Western embassies of supporting the popular uprising, including through financial backing. Several mass rallies are planned for Sunday in cities across Lebanon to keep up the pressure on the country’s ruling class. On Saturday, an initiative dubbed the “revolution bus” traversed the country. Leaving Akkar region in the north in the morning, the bus – decorated with the names of protest hotbeds in the multi-confessional country – arrived early in the evening in the southern city of Sidon. According to protesters, the initiative sought to break down geographical and sectarian barriers and overcome the collective trauma of the 1975-1990 civil war. In an incident that became emblematic of inter-sectarian schisms during that deadly conflict, a bus was strafed by gunfire.

by Nicky Harley -- thenational.ae -- Former finance minister Mohammad Safadi has withdrawn his candidacy to be prime minister of the next Lebanese government. In a statement, Mr Safadi said it would have been difficult to form a “harmonious” cabinet supported by all parties. He said he hoped outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri would be designated again for the post. On Thursday, three of Lebanon's main political parties agreed on the 75-year-old billionaire businessman as their choice to become Lebanon’s new prime minister. Caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), had confirmed on Friday that Mr Safadi would be nominated for the post when formal deliberations on forming the next government begin in parliament on Monday. But on Saturday evening Mr Safadi said in a statement that he had decided to withdraw following consultations with political parties and a meeting on Saturday with Mr Hariri. "It is difficult to form a harmonious government supported by all political sides that could take the immediate salvation steps needed to halt the country's economic and financial deterioration and respond to the aspirations of people in the street," the statement said.