Lebanon’s Full Circle Around the Sun
Rewinding back to the beginning of 2021, the Lebanese lira was valued at L.L 8500 with Saad Al-Hariri working on the formation of a new cabinet. Al-Hariri faced dissent towards his ministerial appointments as all the political establishment was trying to decide on how this pie that is Lebanon will be split. The major actors were not able to come to an agreement and after many wasted months, Saad Al-Hariri resigned. This cleared the path for Prime Minister Najib Mikati to form a cabinet with cross-party consent.
Throughout 2021, establishment mouth pieces in the form of journalists and the various media outlets were used in full effect to portray the utmost anger towards the central bank governor, Riad Salame. These antics were nothing but an expected facade. Of course Riad Salame deserves more than mere criticism as he was one who orchestrated the decades long ponzi scheme that resulted to this financial crisis. However, appointing the central bank’s executive director who is Riad Salame’s right hand man as the Minister of Finance paints a different image. In addition, all the political parties agreed on the formation of such a cabinet lead by Najib Mikati –who has a personal and business relationship with Mr. Salame. A parliamentary vote must occur for a government to be legitimized. These members of parliament voted in favour of such a government whose main objective is to bail out the banking sector, thus impoverishing the people even more.
It is a race against time when a country is in the midst of total economic collapse. The longer it takes to implement measure to tackle such a problem, the greater the consequences and longer lasting economical and social repercussions. Lebanon is in its third year of this downward spiral with no capital control law and no fixed exchange rate. The absence of such a law means that US dollars entering the country are being siphoned out. Instead, the Lebanese people are given gallant speeches, empty promises and hopeless prayers accompanied with vague assessments of what must be done to control and manage the downward spiralling economy. This is a calculated move in order for these political figures to dissolve themselves of any blame. Having political parties based on sectarianism means they represent people from all walks of life with a support base is comprised of both the wealthy and the impoverished. Financial losses must be distributed but whom will carry the greater burden is still unknown.
Adjacent to all this economic downfall sits the Beirut port investigation. One side is claiming that the investigation is politicized thus halting the government until their request of removing the lead investigator Judge Tarek Bitar is adhered to. The Beirut port investigation and the whole Bitar debadical evolved from mere words thrown back and forth to bullets being fired. On October 14, militants took to the streets and rooftops with bullets being exchanged that resulted in the death of 6 individuals. When one of the alleged perpetrators of the attack was asked to come in for a statement, his response was “the judiciary is politicised”. Quite the pattern from those who deem themselves above the institutions.
Another farce with the port investigation is the whole narrative of, “Why is Judge Bitar’s decision taking so long?” The political elite dismissed the first judge, obstructed the second in every way possible and then have the audacity to say that the results are not up to speed.
The cabinet needs to meet for the IMF negotiations, but the issue of Tarek Bitar is still present and proving rather difficult. How do you dismiss him without officially dismissing him? You employ two separate investigations. The ministerial court was called into effect by parliament to conduct its own separate investigation. Why was this court not called to action when the blast first happened? Why was it not asked to investigate when the first judge, Fadi Suwan was dismissed? It seems that this court became deemed important and constitutional when certain ministers and members of parliament were called in for questioning.
Decisions need to be made in this country, and the governmental institutions such the judiciary and parliament are all an illusion to deceive the people that some form of a state exists. For this reason, President Michel Aoun called for the “table of dialogue”. This is basically a sit down between the six or seven real decision makers to discuss the issues at hand before they become uncontrollable. It is quite hypocritical of Aoun to symbolize himself as a strong president that values the state with its institutions and then legitimize such a meeting. If he truly cared for the constitution and the role of the strong president, then he would not entertain such a form of dialogue that holds no lawful authority.
Parliamentary elections are looming, and the political parties will be working immensely to galvanise their constituents as well as gain new supporters. The resignation of Saad Al-Hariri has ignited the country. A large portion of the population are left unrepresented and the race for their votes has begun. The baseless dialogue and empty promises will be prominent as 2022 unfolds as the people wonder just how much more can the living conditions deteriorate.
