Lebanon's Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun on Monday called on all Lebanese workers to participate in demonstrations scheduled for May 7 to topple Prime Minister Fouad Seniora's government.
The current government is "the reason behind the Lebanese crisis," Aoun told a press conference here after the weekly meeting of his parliamentary block, blaming the government for the deteriorating economic situation.
Aoun said the "crisis that Lebanon faces is ... where the government is based," adding that "we will not leave the nation as it was in the past three years," referring to the rule of the majority.
He also stressed that "rioting is banned. Security forces are responsible for banning riots, not preventing demonstrations."
Lebanese General Labor Confederation has earlier called for a general strike and demonstrations on May 7 to protest the bad living conditions and economic deterioration, calling for pay rises.
Lebanon is facing the most complicated political crisis since 1975-1990 civil war. Lebanese political rival groups were unable to achieve a breakthrough to elect a new president for the country, which has been without a president since Nov. 24 when ex-President Emile Lahoud ended his term.
A long-awaited parliamentary session to elect a new president to succeed Lahoud has been postponed for 18 times as rival parties could not iron out their differences.
The Lebanese rivals have agreed on the election of Army Chief Michel Suleiman as president, but still disputed over the make-up of a cabinet after his election and the law governing a general election scheduled for 2009.
Source:Xinhua
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