The explosion in Beirut, Lebanon was a tragedy, killing at least 163 people and injuring thousands more. The public there displayed their outrage over the incident, leading to the government taking drastic action.
Lebanon’s prime minister is stepping down and dissolving his cabinet following days of protests that blamed government negligence for the deadly blasts in Beirut on August 4 pic.twitter.com/yPiRysQNDL
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) August 10, 2020
The explosion on August 4 was caused by more than 2,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate being ignited; something Lebanon’s prime minister says is the result of what he called “endemic corruption.”
Prime Minister Hassan Diab stated that the will of the people will be followed, and those responsible for the explosion will be held accountable. Diab added that corruption is a part of every state, but he has learned that corruption is larger than the state, blaming a political elite for preventing change.
The resignation was an attempt to respond to public outrage, instead, it just threw Lebanon’s politics further into chaos. For many Lebanese citizens, this explosion was the last straw. A Beirut engineer, Joe Haddad, stated that the entire regime needs to be corrected, if it’s not, no change will come. The current system requires President Michael Aoun to ask parliamentary groups on who should be prime minister; he is then required to designate the candidate with the most support.
This is a prime example of the true power people have when they stand up against corruption. Unfortunately, it took the loss of many lives to ignite the spark of change.
Copyright 2020, TheSurvivalGuide.com
