Police and protesters have clashed in angry scenes in Beirut after thousands of people took to the streets.
While most of the demonstration was peaceful, some protesters set fires and police fired tear gas.
It comes four days after the huge explosion that killed at least 158 people in the port area, which has reignited anger at Lebanon's political leaders, who many see as inept and corrupt.
Several thousand people are on the streets in a planned protest, but there has been violence. Police fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators.
Sounds of gunfire have also been heard from central Martyrs' Square.
In a televised address, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said he would ask for early elections as a way out of the crisis.
"We can't exit the country's structural crisis without holding early parliamentary elections," he said. The issue will be discussed in cabinet on Monday.
Many Lebanese are furious at the failure to prevent the explosion of over 2,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
The material, which was being stored in a warehouse, had been seized from a ship six years ago but never moved. The government has promised to find those responsible.
The blast at the port devastated parts of the city and has deepened distrust of what many had already seen as an inept and corrupt political class. An anti-government protest movement erupted last October, fuelled by an economic crisis and a collapsing currency.
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