Hundreds of retired military personnel and public sector employees demonstrated in Riad al-Solh Square in front of the government headquarters in the center of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to demand a fixed exchange rate for their salaries.
The protesters denounced the low value of their salaries in light of the continuous rise in the exchange rate of the dollar against the Lebanese pound, and demanded an improvement in their living conditions by fixing the exchange rate of the dollar at 28,500 pounds instead of 45,200 pounds for the salaries of retirees.
The demonstrators raised Lebanese flags and banners written on some of them “Lebanon and its people are in danger of disappearing.” Some of them also tried to cross the barbed wire in front of the Government Serail (the seat of the government), and one of them poured gasoline, apparently in preparation for setting fire to his body, but the situation was contained.
“I have nothing left to lose, I will stay here and I will not leave,” one of the demonstrators told Al Jazeera Mubasher.
He added, explaining his situation, “I am a retired first aide in the Lebanese army. My son went to Russia to study medicine, and I cannot send him money to complete his education or even to spend, even though the student dollar law exists, but no one implements it.”
In a tone of pain and sadness, he said, “My son is without food in Russia. We have reached a stage where we do not have the daily sustenance.”
They tried to climb the bank walls and cut the barbed wire.
Retired military trying to storm the Bank of Lebanon #Aljazeera live #Beirut #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/H8Y1VCb058– Al Jazeera Mubasher (@ajmubasher) March 31, 2023
Since 2019, the Lebanese people have been suffering from an unprecedented severe economic crisis that led to the collapse of the exchange rate of the lira against the dollar, a shortage of medicines, fuel and other basic commodities, in addition to a sharp decline in purchasing power.
