Lebanon's emboldened opposition goes from protest to parliament

Halime El Kaakour, a newly elected Lebanese MP who has a PhD in public international law and teaches at the Lebanese University, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mechref, Lebanon May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Emilie Madi

BEIRUT (Reuters) - When Halime El Kaakour enters Lebanon's parliament as a newly elected lawmaker next week, she will step past the same concrete barriers that security forces erected to keep her and other protesters out during massive anti-government rallies in 2019.

Powered by that protest movement and popular anger over the financial implosion that followed, about a dozen activists and reform-minded newcomers like her were elected to the 128-member legislature on Sunday.