<http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/06/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon.php> Lebanon's labor unions call for a sit-in to protest proposed tax hikes
The Associated Press Saturday, January 6, 2007 BEIRUT, Lebanon
Labor unions on Saturday called on Lebanese from feuding parties to join in a sit-in next week to protest tax hikes proposed by the government as part of an economic reform program.
The unions' decision coincided with plans by the Hezbollah-led opposition to escalate its ongoing street protests against the government of Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora after he rejected its demand for a national unity Cabinet that would give Hezbollah and its allies veto power on key decisions.
Since Dec. 1, Saniora has been living at his office complex in central Beirut behind a tight security cordon cutting him off from the thousands of Hezbollah supporters and allies camping nearby. He reiterated Saturday his calls for political dialogue, saying that street protests would not lead to the toppling of his government.
"I think the brothers present (in the streets) must realize that after five weeks nothing has happened and therefore nothing will happen after 10 weeks. The government will not be brought down," Saniora said in a local radio interview.
The unions' sit-in, planned for Tuesday, will be followed by street demonstrations and strikes if the government does not drop the proposed tax increases, said Ghassan Ghosn, president of the General Confederation of Labor and Trade Unions.
"The protest is primarily against the government's economic policies, including its economic reform plan which proposes tax increases," said Ghosn, stating his confederation represents the country's 400,000-strong labor force.
The union move came two days after Saniora's embattled government endorsed a sweeping economic reform plan in a bid to attract foreign financial assistance — much needed after the Hezbollah-Israel war in the summer worsened Lebanon's economic woes.
The plan, unveiled by Saniora earlier this week, would be presented to an international donors' conference scheduled in Paris on Jan. 25 to drum up financial aid and soft loans to help Lebanon cope with soaring public debts and revitalize the struggling economy.
Saniora described the economic program as a one-time opportunity to regain the confidence of the world community ahead of the Paris conference.
The plan envisages a privatization program directed primarily at increasing investment and reducing public debt estimated at more than US$40 billion (euro30.52 billion) — twice the country's GDP.
Saniora indicated that the program includes unpopular measures such as an increase in the value added tax on goods and services from 10 to 12 percent — and fuel price hikes. The steps would be implemented in 2008.
Ghosn appealed to Lebanon's workers and students to participate in the sit-in in front of the Finance Ministry building "to reject any direct or indirect taxes, particularly increasing the value added tax."
Ghosn stressed that his confederation was not a party to the current power struggle between pro- and anti-Syrian factions. "Our action is to defend workers' interests and their livelihood," he said. But the latest planned protest was voted in a meeting boycotted by representatives of anti-Syrian factions.
The labor unions' move came as the Hezbollah-led street protests and sit-ins against the government entered a second month with no end in sight to the deepening political crisis that has heightened sectarian tensions in the country.
Christian leader Gen. Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, said the opposition is preparing plans to step up its anti-government protests next week. He did not elaborate.
Sheik Naim Kassem, Hezbollah's deputy leader, said pro-Syrian opposition leaders will meet within two days to decide on the next steps against the government.
Tensions between pro- and anti-Syrian groups erupted when six pro-Hezbollah Cabinet ministers resigned in November after Saniora rejected their demand to have more say in the government.
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