Alwaght- Lebanese taxi, bus, and truck drivers started a three-day strike today, blocking traffic in major routes and demanding the government to address challenges to them caused by surging fuel prices amid already bitting economic predicament.
It was the second time in three weeks unions held strike action, forcing schools, universities, and many shops to close. With public transport virtually nonexistent in Lebanon, many rely on such shared taxis, buses or minivans for their daily commute and travel.
Beirut was eerily quiet as protesting drivers blocked its main highways and intersections, some with burning tires. Unions have said the strike actions will last from 5:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
The crippling economic crisis in Lebanon has been in place for nearly three years, caused by a political standoff, Beirut port explosion in August 2020, and foreign interferences.
The government of Prime Minister, which assumed the office in July last year, has been struggling to get the economy back on the track, has not been successful so far.
Its power to act is marred by deep political divisions as the Western and Arab-backed sides insist on a exclusive government implementing their supporters' agenda.
There is, on the other hand, an unstated blockade on the country imposed by the US which wants Hezbollah, a key player in the national security and politics, out of power.
The American and Saudi interferences are so rife that they forced Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi to resign in December for his criticism of Saudi aggression on Yemen.
The country is heading to an election, scheduled for May 15.
Saudi Arabia has been generating crises, both political and economic, in the country as the nation is moving to the vote, all to describe its opponents, mainly Hezbollah and Free Patriotic Union (FPU), as the main causes of the current financial crunch.
Hezbollah, in association with its ally Iran, has been working to assuage the crisis. It imported fuel from Iran to Lebanon in mid-September 2021, helping ease the severe fuel shortage.
However, the government under pressures from Washington and Riyadh to avoid cooperation with Tehran for a way out of the fuel crisis, which has been a cause of surge in prices, failed to take measures to keep the fuel coming in from Iran.
