Lebanese President Needed to Save Beirut From Its Trash Heap - Analyst

Mario Abou Zeid, an expert on Middle East politics, told Radio Sputnik that the Lebanese protest against the country's garbage disposal crisis is indicative of wider problems in the country, which has been struggling without an elected head of state for a year and a half.

Lebanon is in need of a president to put a halt to its political dysfunction and clear the garbage from its streets, Mario Abou Zeid, a research analyst working at the Carnegie Center in Beirut, told Radio Sputnik in an interview on Wednesday.

Demonstrations against the garbage collection crisis turned violent this past weekend, as protestors clashed with riot police. The impasse began last month after politicians were unable to agree on a place to dump Beirut's trash after the city's main landfill was closed.

Although the protestors have postponed their protests for the time being, according to Zeid, there will be more marches this weekend, as all the bids proposed by the waste disposal companies were rejected by Lebanon's Council of Ministers when it gathered on Tuesday.

The waste disposal companies quoted the government prices which were at least twice as high as the previous waste disposal contract, and far exceed the projections of environmental impact studies, which estimate the cost of waste disposal at no more than $50-$60 per ton of waste.

The proposals presented to the Council on Tuesday averaged $140 per metric ton, with some quoting as much as $182 per metric ton. 

"There are a lot of political parties included in these bids. And everyone practically is linked to a company which has presented an offer to the Council of Ministers, and everyone is trying to take their share."

"Everyone has an interest in taking a share of this pie. And they are not agreeing on an equal share between them all, that's why you see them blocked and not processing any of these bids which are being presented, or even looking for the most cost-effective."

Protestors set uncollected garbage on fire and block a road as they protest against the ongoing refuse crisis in Beirut, Lebanon July 25, 2015.

© REUTERS / Aziz Taher

The lack of a president has practically blocked any hopes of solving the issue, said Zeid, since the powers of the president have been transferred to the Council of Ministers as a whole, which is divided and unable to reach a consensus on even such a basic issue as public health and sanitation.

Lebanon has been without a head of state since its presidential elections in April 2014, when no candidate received the necessary two-thirds majority to win the presidency.

The Lebanese people, forced to live among piles of garbage, "are only looking to survive this situation," explained Zeid.

"The processes of accountability are lost, because the main process of accountability is practically during elections. And the elections have been delayed

 twice in the last few years, and the parliament renewed its mandate twice, so practically the citizens were not allowed to hold their representatives

 accountable through elections."

"That's why the only solution, to move forward, would be to elect a president," explained Zeid.

"The president will have to appoint new ministers and form a new government, and at that stage you will have to have another parliamentary election."

"So the way out of this chaotic situation, is to actually follow the constitution, and elect a president."