Retired Lebanese Army personnel protest at Riad al-Solh Square, in downtown Beirut, on April 24, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Hundreds of retired Lebanese military personnel demonstrated Thursday morning at Riad al-Solh Square, in downtown Beirut, alongside a Parliament session addressing a law that includes provision for pension increases for these former soldiers and police officers, who have been severely affected by Lebanon’s economic crisis since 2019, reports our photographer on the scene Mohammad Yassine.
The sit-in was organized by the Gathering of Retired Military. These former soldiers, who have been regularly protesting since the crisis began, have urged Nawaf Salam's government to draft a bill "to meet [their] demands and submit it to Parliament," according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
'Shame on you, politicians'
Among the main demands is “the gradual application of law No. 46/2017, starting from June 1, 2025,” reports NNA. The demonstrators are calling for an increase in their pensions, beginning with a 50 percent increase in the value of their pension in dollars (at the market rate), followed by a 10 percent increase every six months, until a total 100 percent increase is achieved.
Public sector salaries and pensions have collapsed with the sharp depreciation of the Lebanese pound since 2019.
"We are asking [the new government] only for our rights, grant them to us," read one of the signs held by a protester, according to a photo by our reporter on the scene. "Shame on you, politicians," read another sign, attached to a military uniform and accompanied by a Lebanese flag.
According to NNA, the protesters denounced "the ongoing injustice" faced by military personnel in general, and retirees in particular, "due to the lack of fair salary increases, unlike those granted to other public sectors." The demonstrators also called for the approval of an immediate monthly aid of 20 million Lebanese pounds for all retirees until the implementation of Law 46/2017, adds NNA.
Last September, efforts between Najib Mikati's government and a group of retired military personnel aimed to harmonize the demands of retirees, but they did not lead to a solution.
Demonstration by relatives of detained Islamists
Additionally, relatives of detained Islamists also protested in front of Parliament to demand an amnesty law. The demonstrators notably held photos of Ahmad al-Assir, a detained Salafist sheikh sentenced to death in 2017 for clashes that occurred in June 2013 in Abra between Islamists he led and the Lebanese Army. Eighteen soldiers and 11 militants were killed in these battles. His companions were sentenced to 10 years of hard labor. The Sunni preacher was also sentenced on Aug. 21, 2021, by the military tribunal to 20 years of hard labor for fighting the Lebanese Army in Bhanine, northern Lebanon, in 2014.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
