Garbage crisis underscores government's dysfunction

The overpowering stench of the trash piling up in Lebanon's streets has become a potent symbol of the political rot protesters blame not only for the garbage crisis but a gridlocked government unable to meet citizens' most basic needs, including electricity, water, health and education.

As mounds of trash steam in the heat and humidity of the Lebanese summer, the broad-based movement of civic protest in the streets has taken aim at politicians with its campaign slogan: "You Stink".

The government's failure to deal with a breakdown in garbage disposal it knew was coming has become a metaphor for the problems at the heart of a state that, beyond military and security functions, has all but ceased to function. The last thing a Middle East in meltdown needs is for Lebanon, barely recovered from its own 15-year civil war, to become another failed state.

For the "You Stink" crowd, the garbage in the streets is the last straw. Even some politicians agree the system is corrupt and broken.

Tammam Salam, the Sunni Muslim prime minister, said that serious as it is, the uncollected waste is merely a manifestation of the "political garbage" afflicting Lebanon.

"What we're concerned about is the continued steady erosion of the institutions, which is a fact, that's why people take to the streets. There is a lot of inefficiency, there is no reform, and the government is not able to execute whatever decision it takes," said one Western diplomat.

"It's a pity to see this erosion at a time when the region is in crisis, when you have nothing but failing states around. These basic issues can actually be quite toxic."

If anything, the garbage crisis crystallizes how those in the ruling class have weakened state institutions in favor of parallel networks of companies they set up or benefited from to provide major services.

In the eyes of the protesters, the mess is the result of corruption and incompetence at the heart of government, where lucrative contracts are routinely fought over by companies allied to politicians.

In the present paralysis, elections to parliament have twice been postponed. The current caretaker government led by Salam, scion of a leading Sunni family, came after a year without a government.

Few people can tell the difference, since factional antagonism between the sects means it often lacks a quorum to meet and makes decisions even more rarely.

Many hope the crisis will create a rare opportunity for a civil movement to pile pressure on the ruling class to stop usurping power and ensure new parliamentary elections that could lead to presidential polls.

Many of the sectarian leaders under fire are warning the protesters they risk sowing chaos. They contend the protests, taking place while war rages next door in Syria, will jeopardize Lebanon's fragile stability.

But analysts, diplomats and even some politicians say the erosion of the institutions is the real threat.

The crisis began when the government did not extend the contract of the private company in charge of garbage collection just as Lebanon's main landfill went beyond its capacity and could no longer process more waste. The company, Sukleen, is associated in Lebanon with Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri.

Two months on, the government has still failed to replace Sukleen. Six private companies, also connected to the ruling elite, failed to win the contract to remove garbage because the fees they quoted turned out to be much higher than Sukleen's.