BEIRUT: Civil society groups, backed by labor unions, will stage a massive demonstration in Downtown Beirut Wednesday to protest the first round of National Dialogue designed to end the 15-month presidential vacuum and revive the role of Parliament and the Cabinet, activists said Tuesday.

In an attempt apparently aimed at averting a clash between the protesters and dialogue participants, the Internal Security Forces said that “You Stink” activists would only be allowed to demonstrate in Martyrs’ Square during their planned sit-in, as the roads leading to Nijmeh Square would be shut down while the talks are held at the Parliament building.

“We and other civil groups and labor unions are mobilizing for a mass demonstration to protest this dialogue, which should be with the people rather than with heads of parliamentary blocs,” Assaad Thebian, the co-founder of the anti-government campaign You Stink, told The Daily Star Tuesday night.

He said his group, which has been spearheading anti-government street protests over rampant corruption and the failure to resolve a mounting garbage crisis, is skeptical about the outcome of the proposed dialogue.

“Like previous dialogue sessions, we don’t expect this round of talks to produce any results,” Thebian said. He renewed his group’s four demands: the resignation of the environment minister, holding accountable policemen who opened fire on protesters during last month’s demonstration in Riad al-Solh Square, unfreezing funds for the municipalities and holding parliamentary elections.

Thebian said that according to plans by You Stink and other civil groups, there would be a sit-in at the time of the dialogue session expected to begin at noon and a mass demonstration at 6 p.m.

You Stink and other civil groups have called for the protests to be staged near Nijmeh Square to protest the all-inclusive talks. Other civil groups as well as the Union Coordination Committee, the umbrella movement of civil servants and public and private schoolteachers, have said they would join the rally.

But the ISF said Nejmeh Square would be off limits to the protesters while rival leaders are meeting in Parliament. “The main and secondary roads near Nijmeh Square, the street housing the Parliament and where the National Dialogue session is being held, will be closed, so activists can protest in Martyrs’ Square,” an ISF officer told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity. “These measures are implemented whenever there is a parliamentary session, regardless of the protests,” he added.

“The intersection next to An-Nahar building and Le Grey all the way toward Al-Amine Mosque, Banks Street, as well as other secondary roads leading to Nijmeh Square will be closed as of 6 a.m.,” the ISF said in a statement published on their website. “Public and private institutions’ employees working within the aforementioned area will be prohibited from entering it.”

Berri, who will chair the first round of National Dialogue at 12 noon, said Tuesday the presidential election will be the first item for discussion. He again rated the chances of the success of the dialogue at zero or 100 percent in light of deep differences between the March 8 and March 14 parties over topics on the agenda. Berri was quoted by visitors as saying that he would leave talks on the presidential item open until the interlocutors decide on it.

Other topics on the agenda include ways to get the government functioning, a new electoral law and a law allowing foreigners of Lebanese origin to obtain Lebanese nationality. Berri said he received a phone call from Prime Minister Tammam Salam during which the speaker stressed the need to convene the Cabinet to discuss pending issues, including the trash crisis.

While the Future Movement and its March 14 allies insist on the election of a president first, MP Michel Aoun demands a new electoral law and parliamentary polls to be followed by the election of a head of state.

The parliamentary Future bloc hoped that the National Dialogue would succeed in ending the presidential vacuum.

“The bloc hopes that the dialogue session … will be a real pathway to the main topic: an agreement to elect a president to restore order to constitutional institutions,” the bloc said in a statement after its weekly meeting.

For his part, Aoun warned of another street protest if the Free Patriotic Movement’s demands raised during last week’s rally were not met.