Hariri supporters blocked roads in Corniche al-Mazraa and other neighborhoods in Beirut after he announced Monday that he will not run in May's elections. (Credit: L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Supporters of former three-time Prime Minister Saad Hariri blocked roads in Beirut on Monday afternoon in reaction to his announcement that he will not run in Lebanon’s upcoming elections.
Here’s what we know:
• Hariri announced Monday afternoon that he is “stepping aside from political life” and that he is not going to run in May’s parliamentary elections. He also asked “his Future Movement Family” to do the same.
• According to L’Orient Today’s correspondent, supporters of Hariri blocked roads in Corniche al-Mazraa and Kaskas in Beirut.
• Rima Ghlayene, 44, a supporter of Hariri, told L’Orient Today that she agrees with Hariri’s decision to step aside. “I wouldn’t vote for thawra [Arabic for "revolution"] people or any other group that does politics in Lebanon, I would vote for someone whose platform I like,” she said.
• "I am very sad and disappointed. He is the only one who represents me. Sunni leadership is made for him, if he does not change his mind, I will boycott the elections," Osman, who asked to be identified only by his first name, told L’Orient Today’s correspondent in Tariq al-Jadideh.
• Following Hariri’s announcement, in Tripoli, one of his strongholds, Nadia Masri told L’Orient Today that Hariri’s decision scared her, "because within all of his mistakes he represents a religious and political sobriety, and we fear that our destiny will be infiltrated by people close to Hezbollah or some radical extremists.”
• In Saida, Abdel Rahim told L’Orient Today that he is "frustrated.” “We no longer have support, I cried when I heard Saad Hariri announced his withdrawal from political life… If only he could come back,” he said. “ I'm afraid we're finished, as Sunnis,” he added.