New Crisis Looms in Lebanon, Ministry Unable to Pay Salaries of Civil Servants

A money exchange vendor displays Lebanese pound banknotes at his shop in Beirut, Lebanon, January 5, 2022. Picture taken January 5, 2022. (File photo: Reuters)
A money exchange vendor displays Lebanese pound banknotes at his shop in Beirut, Lebanon, January 5, 2022. Picture taken January 5, 2022. (File photo: Reuters)
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New Crisis Looms in Lebanon, Ministry Unable to Pay Salaries of Civil Servants

A money exchange vendor displays Lebanese pound banknotes at his shop in Beirut, Lebanon, January 5, 2022. Picture taken January 5, 2022. (File photo: Reuters)
A money exchange vendor displays Lebanese pound banknotes at his shop in Beirut, Lebanon, January 5, 2022. Picture taken January 5, 2022. (File photo: Reuters)

Labor unions in Lebanon on Tuesday warned of a new crisis looming after reports that the finance ministry might not be able to pay the June salaries for public sector employees.

On Friday, the Finance Ministry’s media office made a statement announcing that it “will not be able to disburse salaries, compensations, wages, and the prescribed increase due at the end of June, before Eid Al-Adha, because of the lack of financial appropriations until the aforementioned date.”

General Labor Union's President Bechara Al-Asmar expressed concern over the matter, saying it would impact around 300 thousand government employees.

In remarks to Arab News Agency, Asmar said the country’s finance ministry took that decision over lack of state budget reserves, amid an unapproved 2023 state budget and a vacuum at the country’s top state post.

He said the parliament must first pass legislation in order for the government to disburse the salaries of civil servants.

Asmar said the matter must be addressed as soon as possible “otherwise we could resort to a general strike and street protests”.

Nawal Nasr, head of the Public Administration Employee’s Union, told the news agency that not all segments of the public sector suffer the same.

“Some segments of the public sector have won the State’s attention. Judges, lawmakers, ministers, the telecommunication and electricity sector employees have all won the State’s attention only because they (officials) have shares in that,” she said.

She said the privileged ones got a raise and health benefits while the rest of the employees, mainly low-income ones, still suffer despite a monthly financial aid amounting to $100 to each personnel, provided by the International Monetary fund. “But what can it add to their purchasing power”? she asked.

Lebanon is grappling with a deep economic crisis since 2019, amid vacuum at the post of presidency and political and institutional paralysis which is stoking fears of a broader breakdown.

 

 

 



Lebanese Officials Discuss South Lebanon with Visiting US Envoy

A handout photo provided by the Lebanese presidency shows President Joseph Aoun meeting with US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda near Beirut - AFP
A handout photo provided by the Lebanese presidency shows President Joseph Aoun meeting with US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda near Beirut - AFP
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Lebanese Officials Discuss South Lebanon with Visiting US Envoy

A handout photo provided by the Lebanese presidency shows President Joseph Aoun meeting with US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda near Beirut - AFP
A handout photo provided by the Lebanese presidency shows President Joseph Aoun meeting with US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda near Beirut - AFP

Senior Lebanese officials said Saturday's talks with visiting US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus were positive, focusing on south Lebanon amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah.

President Joseph Aoun and Ortagus discussed "south Lebanon, the work of the international monitoring committee and the Israeli withdrawal" from Lebanese territory, a statement from the presidency said, characterizing the talks as constructive.

The United States chairs a committee, which also includes France, that is tasked with overseeing the ceasefire that ended more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's office, in a statement, also said the discussions with the envoy were "positive".

Ortagus's second visit to Lebanon comes as Israel continues to carry out strikes in Lebanon despite a November 27 ceasefire with Hezbollah, and as its troops remain in several points in the country's south.

Under the truce, Hezbollah was to redeploy its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

Israel was due to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems "strategic".

Lebanon's army has been deploying in areas the Israeli military has withdrawn from.

Ortagus and Salam discussed the Lebanese army's work in implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and formed the basis of the November truce, his office said.

The resolution says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and called for the disarmament of all non-state armed groups.

- Economic issues -

Salam's office said the talks also addressed the Syrian-Lebanese border, where deadly clashes erupted last month, emphasising the importance of preventing "any tensions or chaos, and all forms of smuggling", according to the premier's office, AFP reported.

Hezbollah has long exerted influence over large parts of the Lebanese-Syrian border, and Israel has repeatedly struck the area.

The Lebanese and Syrian defense ministers last month signed an agreement addressing security and military issues along the border, which has no official demarcation.

Aoun and Ortagus also discussed economic reforms and "combatting corruption", his office said, a day after Lebanon's new central bank governor Karim Souaid took office.

Souaid has pledged to advance key reforms demanded by international creditors to unlock bailout funds amid a years-long economic crisis.

Salam and Ortagus discussed "the need to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund", his office said.

Ortagus also met on Saturday with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, discussing "Israeli violations and attacks on Lebanon" as well as economic and administrative reforms, his office said in a statement.

She also met with army chief Rodolphe Haykal.

On her first visit in February, Ortagus sparked anger among Hezbollah supporters by saying the group had been "defeated by Israel" and declaring "the end of Hezbollah's reign of terror".

The Iran-backed group was heavily weakened during the war with Israel, but remains active.

Last month, Ortagus told Lebanese TV channel Al-Jadeed that the US and France had set up working groups that would address issues including the border disputes between the two countries and Israel's continued presence south Lebanon.

"We want to get a political resolution, finally, to the border disputes," Ortagus had said.