Activists, Bar Association March to Baabda Palace on Independence Day

Students, lawyers and activists marched on Saturday towards the Presidential Palace in Mount Lebanon's Baabda region to reject the cancellation of the country's Independence Day celebrations.

The rally was organized by the Joy of Giving Association (Farah al-Ata), Private and Public Schools, the Lebanese Bar Association and the Civil Society.

Heavy rains and wind didn't prevent gatherers from marching the Baabda Palace.

The rally was held under strict security measures by the Lebanese army that closed all the entrances leading to the presidential palace and searched participants.

School buses drove students from different areas to the gathering point in al-Sayyad roundabout.

The rally was held under the slogan: “You canceled the celebration but we are the independence.”

The head of Bar Association, George Jreij, told protesters that the association is “keen to preserve democracy... We have no right to move backwards.”

He demanded politicians to carry out actions and elect a new head of state.

Demonstrators raised during the rally the Lebanese flags, chanting the national anthem.

The Lebanese government has decided to cancel Independence Day celebrations for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war because of the country's presidential vacuum.

Lebanon was due to mark the 71st anniversary of its independence on Saturday with a parade involving all the country's security forces.

The Lebanese Independence Day is a national day celebrated in remembrance of the 1943 liberation from the French Mandate which was exercised over Lebanese soil for over 23 years.

The cancellation is the first since the end of the civil war, and comes amid a stalemate over the election of a successor to president Michel Suleiman, who stepped down in May.

The day is usually marked with a speech to the nation by the president on the eve of the holiday and a military parade on the day itself in Beirut, attended by the country's political leadership.