Reform Agenda: Protesters and Saad Hariri

reform agenda: Following his speech, groups of rioters broke away from the protesters, clashing with police, setting cars ablaze and smashing store windows in the streets of Beirut, according to CTV. Thousands of protesters have been rallying across the country for the past two days, raging against top leaders including the president, prime minister and parliament speaker whom they blame for decades of corruption and mismanagement that have led to the current crisis. In an address to the nation and with hundreds of rowdy protesters camped outside his office, Saad Hariri blamed politicians in his national unity government, which includes the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and rival political parties, for blocking his reform agenda at every turn. The protests are the largest Lebanon has seen since 2015 and could further destabilize a country whose economy is already on the verge of collapse and has one of the highest debt loads in the world. Many said they would remain on the streets until the government resigned. The protests, triggered partly by a proposal for a 6 monthly fee for Whatsapp voicecalls, drew people from all religious and political backgrounds and were largely peaceful, although violence erupted in several areas. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.