BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of supporters of Lebanon’s president and foreign minister held a rally in a suburb of Beirut on Sunday to counter anti-government protests that have paralyzed the country for more than two weeks.
President Michel Aoun and his son-in-law, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, have been among the main targets of mass protests that aim to sweep from power Lebanon’s entire sectarian and political elite.
They are members of a Christian party that is allied with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which has accused unnamed foreign powers of manipulating the demonstrations. The Shiite Amal party, another close Hezbollah ally, also held a rally on Sunday in support of its leader, longtime parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
Speaking live on giant screens, Aoun called on his supporters to work with the anti-government protesters to end corruption and to create a non-sectarian state. He acknowledged that “corruption will not end easily because it has been deeply rooted for decades.”
“There are lots of squares and no one should pit one against another, or one demonstration against another,” Aoun said, in his third speech since the anti-government protests began on Oct. 17. “The people have revolted because their rights are missing. The people have lost confidence in the state and this is the big problem. We should restore the state’s confidence.”
Bassil, the target of some of the protesters’ harshest chants, also addressed the rally near the presidential palace at Baabda.
Aoun’s remarks were unlikely to stop two weeks of countrywide demonstrations and the blocking of roads through civil disobedience. Fresh protests are scheduled for later Sunday in Beirut’s main squares.
The leaderless movement has united Lebanese from various religious sects, who are calling for the overthrow of the political system that has dominated the country since its 1975-1990 civil war. The agreement ending the war distributed power among Christians, Shiites and Sunnis, but led to decades of corruption and economic mismanagement culminating in a severe fiscal crisis.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned Tuesday, meeting a key demand of the protesters, but Hezbollah and its allies, who dominate the government, have held their ground without offering any concrete proposals to meet the protesters’ demands. The government proposed a vague roadmap last month aimed at improving the economy, fighting corruption and replacing the sectarian political system with a civil state, but the protests have continued.
Aoun has called for the formation of a new government, but that process could take weeks or even months, and would likely leave most political figures in place. Lebanon’s sectarian parties are run by powerful families that include many former warlords who have long refused to give up power.
Under the current system, Lebanon’s president has to be a Maronite Christian, the parliament speaker a Shiite Muslim and the prime minister a Sunni. Cabinet and parliament seats are equally split between Muslims and Christians.