As some workers in Lebanon took Tuesday off to celebrate Labor Day, others took to the streets, demanding accountability and change and denouncing the country's politicians.
"Their political system is the system of quotas, corruption and extortion and its rulers obey their patrons abroad," Lebanese Communist Party chief Hanna Gharib said, addressing a May Day rally after protesters had marched from Cola to Riad al-Solh Square.
Gharib said the current political system, governed by sectarianism, was the root of Lebanon's woes.
"Their system has hindered the possibility of job creation and abandoned the youth. We want to reconstruct the system as a secular democratic state that protects the rights of its people," he said.
Gharib called on all Lebanese to head to the polls Sunday to vote in the country’s first parliamentary elections in nine years, and to hold corrupt officials accountable. "This system is for renewal and extension. Do not re-elect them."
Castro Abdallah, the president of the National Federation of Workers and Employees Trade Union in Lebanon, also addressed the assembled protesters, demanding that voters hold politicians accountable for Lebanon's current situation.
"They have threatened our civil peace because of sectarianism. They have imposed taxes, raised prices, increased unemployment. Hold them accountable," Abdallah said.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
