Collective Action
Veterans launch new round of austerity protests
Military veterans blocked the entrances to a number of public institutions in the latest round of protests against austerity measures proposed in the draft 2019 state budget. A group of retired military staff gathered at the entrance to the Finance Ministry’s revenues department in Beshara Khoury, in Beirut, at 6 a.m., preventing employees from entering. Other local media reported that some of the protesters had camped outside the building since midnight.
The protesters blocked the Beshara Khoury main road for about an hour until security services were able to disperse them.A representative of the veterans said their presence was "a warning to the failed government," which he said had proposed a budget "of humiliation and shame."He added that the veterans "rejected any interference with social provisions" for military veterans, wounded and families of slain fighters.