The worse may yet come for Lebanon.

For the past three years, Lebanese men and women have been facing one crisis after the other. The latest news and events barely show any reaction by the once-vibrant people who closed down streets in protest against the government, which begs the question: where are the people of the “thawra”?

Nowadays, the Lebanese people see the elections as a beacon of hope, a last chance to bring change to the country. The same people that once clashed with the police are now set out to make their voices heard through voting. However, there is tension in the air, and everyone feels it.

As elections are closing in, many people around the country have been acting more and more violently against the current regime, including followers of this same regime. It needs to be said that the current sociopolitical tension might intensify if the elections do not go according to the people’s will.

Lebanese energy minister assaulted.

On the night of April 25th, in Beirut, an activist from the Lebanese forces party would assault the current Lebanese energy minister, Walid Fayyad, who is associated with the Free Patriotic Movement(FPM). A few days before the assault Fayyad had posted pictures of his trip to Egypt on his Instagram, which had led people to heavily criticize his competence. By contrast, the assault would be met with mixed feelings as either people defended him or gave credit to the assaulter.

Gebran Bassil’s visit to Akkar.

On April 30th, protestors would close off a public road in Jouma to deny Gebran Bassil entrance to Akkar. Being a predominantly Sunni region, people had already burned FPM party flags, an ally to Gebran, a day before. Yet this would not stop Bassil from arriving in Akkar to attend an FPM gathering, allegedly wearing a bulletproof vest under his shirt. During his arrival, clashes would ensue between protestors and FPM members, and later on, the army would interfere and reopen the road by sheer force. There were only a few injuries.

In addition, as if to mock the gathering, Gebran would state that this was an attack on democracy, saying: “Is it normal that in election time, there is an incident every time we want to tour a region? I put this question to the prime minister, as well as to the ministers of the interior and defense”, and later threatened to suspend his parties participation.

Gebran Bassil continued touring cities where his rivals held a majority with a military convoy to protect him.

Tripoli boat incident.

The Lebanese economic situation has created an even wider gap between rich and poor. This is even clearer in the already poor region of Lebanon, Tripoli. And as people have worse conditions to live in, many have opted to emigrate, through dangerous means, outside of Lebanon in search of a better life.

On April 23rd, a boat carrying 85 migrants, including Lebanese citizens, would be capsized in Tripoli, leading to the tragic death of 6 people, including a small child.

The incident would spark a massive uproar from the families in Tripoli, especially since surviving witnesses would blame the army for ramming into the boat and causing it to sink. The following day, roads would be blocked, and gunfire was heard throughout the city while many citizens clashed with the army and called for the expulsion of Tripoli officials from the city.

With 31 people still missing from the incident, people were much less critical of the confrontations with Tripoli MP Dima Jamali, which happened once in Tripoli, and another in Beirut where she would be kicked out of a restaurant.

Rising Tensions.

These events are all indicative of repressed rage and discontent of the people with their current situation. It has put the sociopolitical atmosphere into a deadlock, with even the current regime feeling pressured enough to not delay the elections in fear of a massive backlash.

The people are ready to protest and will do so if the elections, or its follow-up, dissatisfies them, however, this time it will most likely not be as peaceful as last time. People are increasingly intensifying their means of protest, with many using violence against government structures, and this will probably escalate in the following months, which will become yet another crisis that the people of Lebanon will face.