BEIRUT: Anti-government activists vowed Tuesday to stage a new mass demonstration in Downtown Beirut Wednesday to derail a second round of National Dialogue, as civil society groups escalate their campaign against the entire political class and the ongoing garbage crisis.

The activists said they would join the families of Lebanese hostages held by Islamist militants on the northeastern border for a mass protest to coincide with the all-party talks scheduled to be held in Parliament.

“Bring with you pots and pans, eggs, vegetables and garbage,” the “You Stink” group said on its official Facebook page Tuesday, hours after families of the nine servicemen being held by ISIS called for a protest to redraw attention to their cause.

The group called on the Lebanese to thwart the dialogue session “by taking part in a demonstration at 9 a.m. Wednesday to block all the entrances to the illegal and unconstitutional dialogue.”

“We want to prevent officials participating in the talks from reaching their goals,” the You Stink group said, rejecting “useless discussions that undermine the work of state institutions.”

In addition to the nine hostages held by ISIS, 16 Lebanese servicemen are also held by the Nusra Front on the outskirts of the town of Arsal.

Speaker Nabih Berri will chair at noon the second round of an inter-Lebanese National Dialogue aimed at breaking the 15-month presidential deadlock and ending paralysis in Parliament and the Cabinet.

Last week’s dialogue session, attended by rival March 8 and March 14 leaders, ended without any progress being made in the presidential impasse, the first and main topic on the agenda.

The talks were held against the backdrop of a massive demonstration staged by civil society groups in Martyrs’ Square in Downtown Beirut to denounce the political class and the trash crisis. The Future Movement and Hezbollah voiced support for the National Dialogue, according to a statement issued by the two parties Tuesday night following the 18th round of their own ongoing dialogue designed to defuse sectarian tensions, exacerbated by the 4-year-old civil war in Syria.

“The participants discussed political developments and praised Speaker Berri’s call for the convening of the dialogue table in an attempt to reach understanding on the topics included in the agenda. They supported the continuation of the dialogue in this crucial stage in the nation’s life,” the statement said.

It added that the two sides addressed pending issues, “particularly those related to the normal functioning of constitutional institutions and finding solutions to the current crises which concern the citizens.”

The You Stink and other civil groups, which have dismissed the dialogue as “useless,” are calling for the resignation of Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk over his failure to resolve the trash crisis, the decentralization of the waste management sector and immediate parliamentary elections.

The parliamentary Future bloc called on rival leaders attending the National Dialogue to reach an agreement to end the presidential vacuum by electing “a consensus president who must serve as a symbol of the country’s unity and be capable of bringing the Lebanese together.”

“Once the president is elected, constitutional institutions will be back in business as normal and all issues will be discussed at their proper place. We can then move forward to the formation of a [new] Cabinet and approval of a new law for parliamentary elections,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Highlighting the importance of the all-party talks, the bloc stressed that the “dialogue table is not a substitute for constitutional institutions, but rather a safety network backing constitutional institutions.”

It warned that Lebanon can no longer endure “this vacancy in the presidency position because the president’s post constitutes the main balancing factor in the Lebanese national and political body.”

The bloc renewed its commitment to the Taif Accord and the Constitution which rejects outright resettlement of Palestinian or Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The Future bloc’s statement came shortly after Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun accused the international community of conspiring to resettle a big number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

“The international community is throwing the refugee burden on Lebanon,” Aoun told reporters after chairing a weekly meeting of his parliamentary Change and Reform bloc at his residence in Rabieh, north of Beirut. “There are many indications pointing to international intentions to resettle [Syrian] refugees in Lebanon.”

Aoun accused Arab countries and Europe of causing the refugee crisis by supporting the Syrian rebellion, but refusing to deal with its humanitarian consequences. “Lebanon cannot handle the affliction of refugees anymore. It is overpopulated and does not have any resources,” he said.

Addressing Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, Aoun said: “We are in danger and in a political crisis. We need a new president who will defend our land and our identity and fight economic corruption which is the main reason behind Lebanese emigration.”

Meanwhile, the Cabinet is unlikely to meet this month pending the outcome of ongoing contacts among the government’s main parties and Prime Minister Tammam Salam to agree on a new formula for the Cabinet’s decision-making and to end the dispute over military appointments, ministerial sources said.

Furthermore, Salam is scheduled to leave for New York later this month to head Lebanon’s delegation to the U.N. General Assembly’s session.

The government has been paralyzed for months by sharp differences over its decision-making system in the absence of the president and the contentious issue of military and security appointments, a key demand of the FPM’s ministers.