Around 60,000 people have reportedly signed a petition calling for Lebanon to once again be placed under French mandate. This follows the explosion on Tuesday at a port in Beirut, which has left 154 dead over 5,000 others injured.

Addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron, the petition read: “Lebanon’s officials have clearly shown a total inability to secure and manage the country. We believe Lebanon should go back under the French mandate in order to establish a clean and durable governance.”

Lebanon was placed under French mandate in 1923, gaining independence just over 20 years later, in 1944.

Al Arabiyya reports that the petition was published online on Wednesday, a day before Macron visited Lebanon. During his visit to the damage neighbourhoods of Beirut, residents advised him not to provide financial aid to the Lebanese government. People chanted “revolution” and called Lebanese President Michel Aoun a “terrorist.”

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Lebanese security forces fired teargas at demonstrators in Beirut. Anti-government protestors had gathered near parliament, where they lit a fire and threw stones security forces. According to The Guardian, many Lebanese were consumed with anger over the blast. It quotes 30-year-old Mohammad Suyur as saying, “We can’t bear more than this. This is it. The whole system has got to go.”

Umm Muhammed Umar