Lebanon protests over proposed taxes escalate
- by Jerome Frank
- in World News
- — Oct 18, 2019
On Thursday, the government announced a new daily tax for calls made via voice-over-internet-protocol (Voip), which is used by apps including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Apple's FaceTime.
Mohamed Choucair said that he would hold a press conference next week to explain all the details behind the government proposal aimed at bringing in close to $200 million in revenues to the state, but he was quickly forced to back down as anger grew.
Protesters across Lebanon blocked roads with burning tyres on Friday and marched in Beirut for a second day in demonstrations targeting the government over the country's economic crisis.
The participation of protesters grew and reached tens of thousands late into the night.
Lebanon has the third-highest debt burden in the world, and last month an economic emergency was declared.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside the government headquarters in central Beirut on Thursday evening, as protesters chanted "the people want the downfall of the regime", during the largest protests the country has witnessed in years.
Lebanese media has said he would instead make a speech on the protests.
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Schools, banks and businesses shut down as the protests escalated and widened to reach nearly every city and province.
"We are not here over the WhatsApp, we are here over everything: over fuel, food, bread, over everything", said a protester in Beirut who gave his name as Abdullah.
So far, two foreign workers have died from smoke inhalation as a result of a fire that broke out near the protests in Beirut.
Prime minister Saad Hariri cancelled a cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday to resume discussions, and is expected to address the nation later.
Al Jazeera's Alexi O'Brien reports. Unemployment among those aged under 35 runs at 37 percent.
The strains have emerged recently in the real economy where importers have been unable to secure dollars at the pegged exchange rate.
