Lebanese politicians split over economic rescue efforts

BEIRUT: Lebanese politicians are divided on how to best rescue the country’s economy, which has been in freefall for months.

Parties disagree about the implementation of reforms requested by foreign countries in order to provide support.
The coalition government was formed in January after almost 100 days of widespread public protests about the state of the economy, corruption, high unemployment and a lack of basic services. The majority of ministers belong to Hezbollah and its allies.
Opposition parties, especially the Future Movement headed by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, object to the way the government is dealing with the country’s financial freefall.
Hezbollah and the Amal Movement oppose an IMF bailout, which could be a way to ease the crisis.
One suggestion, from the Lazar Financial Advisory Company, proposed a plan on ways to develop the Lebanese economy. It advised the government to confiscate bank deposits in return for shares to depositors, in addition to other measures related to the banking sector.

But the grand mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, the highest religious authority of the Sunni community in Lebanon, rejected the idea. “We must take lessons from the experiences that the country has gone through,” he said. “What we are witnessing now in Lebanon is an economic war to illegally take away people’s bank deposits, while on the other hand there is public money that was looted and we know nothing about it ... citizens should not be the victims.”
Dr. Tariq Majzoub, the minister of education and higher education, said that Lebanon was facing a great ordeal as a result of the influence of “particular interests over the supreme public interest.”
The squabbling came as Lebanese people emerged from their homes on Sunday evening to stand on their balconies and sing the national anthem ahead of the 45th anniversary of the civil war. The civil war started on April 13, 1975, and lasted for 15 years.
NGO Farah Al-Ataa urged people to go to their balconies because April 13 was behind them and they should unite for a better Lebanon.

But political activist Dr. Ziad Abdel Samad said Lebanese society did not share the same perception about the war’s outcome. “Within the war generation there are those who got the lesson and want to build a civil state, and those who insist on committing the same mistakes,” he told Arab News.
The political elite was not ready to relinquish its interests and gains, he added, and its practices were no better than those who were in power during the war. “It will not relinquish these gains and its performance proves that. It obstructed judicial reforms because it wants to keep its control over the judiciary, for it does not want to tackle the issue of looted money, nor to set a regulating authority for electricity.”

Within the war generation, there are those who want to build a civil state, and those who insist on committing the same mistakes.

Dr. Ziad Abdel Samad, Lebanese political activist

Protests have stopped because of a coronavirus lockdown, with people only allowed out for essential purposes. There are also severe restrictions on movement.
Samad said more pressure was needed and that people would have to wait for a new wave of revolution. “This time it will be different and I hope that it does not turn violent. The people who protested in the streets are waiting for the actions and reforms of the new government, but it seems that those in power did not learn the lesson.”