Fisticuffs as lawmakers fight at Lebanese parliament

As Lebanon's political paralysis shows no sign of going away, lawmakers at a parliamentary meeting resorted to fisticuffs, further underscoring the depth of the divisions in the country.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab

05 October, 2015

Lebanon's parliament is divided and paralysed, rarely convening to address the country's many crises [Anadolu]

A session a committee in the Lebanese parliament descended into farce on Monday after lawmakers were involved in a brawl over disputes during a meeting of a parliamentary committee.

MP Ziad Aswad, from Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), and MP Jamal Jarrah, from MP Saad Hariri's Future Movement bloc, became physical after a fierce debate over Lebanon's chronic electricity crisis.

Television footage showed the MPs pointing fingers at each other. The spat escalated when Aswad threw a bottle at Jarrah.

The meeting was subsequently suspended.

Lebanon is marred in a political crisis and a basic services crisis, the most dramatic of which continues to be the ongoing waste management crisis.

The country's politicians are fiercly divided over many issues, from the presidential election to top army appointments.

Meanwhile, a new major protest will be held on Tuesday by anti-government activists in parallel with a national dialogue session in Beirut.