BEIRUT — Activists have promised to renew protest in downtown Beirut as the government continues to fail to solve the continuing garbage crisis.

Protests against the government turned violent over the weekend, and Prime Minister Tammam Salam threatened to resign as public discontent brought thousands into the streets. 

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Beirut this weekend as part of the “You Stink” campaign directed at the government.

Water cannon and tear gas were fired at protesters, and demonstrators threw rocks and sticks at riot police as violence flared near Salam’s offices in central Beirut. “The people want the downfall of the regime,” chanted protesters, echoing the chants of the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Some demonstrators lit fires. A tree next to a church was set ablaze, road signs were pulled from the ground and shop fronts smashed. Violence also flared on Saturday night. 

Meanwhile, Salam’s cabinet crisis deepened as Hezbollah and allied Christian politicians will boycott a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Media run by Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) of Christian politician Michel Aoun, the Shi’a group’s main Christian ally, reported that Salam had been informed of the decision, but did not immediately give a reason for it.

Ministers from Hezbollah and Aoun’s FPM walked out of a cabinet session on Tuesday. They are in dispute with other members of the government over issues including decrees passed without their approval.

The political conflict has obstructed efforts to find a solution to the waste disposal issue.

The Salam government, formed last year, groups parties at opposite ends of the Lebanese political spectrum, including the Future Movement led by Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri and Christian rivals to Aoun.

With the presidency vacant for more than a year, the cabinet has spared Lebanon a vacuum in the executive arm. But it has struggled to take even the most basic decisions.