With the ruling clique’s success in killing the state, wiping out smiles, and abolishing joy, Lebanon started its second century with two significant events. The first is the ESCWA’s announcement that before the end of 2020, poverty will beleaguer 55% of the Lebanese, or about 2.7 million citizens (after it was 28%). The percentage of those who will suffer from extreme poverty will rise to 23% (from 8%), which means that this large segment of society will fail to secure its daily nutritional needs, not to mention medical treatment!
The second is the Central Bank’s announcement that it will not subsidize essential goods, namely, wheat, medicine, and fuel. And reliable economic studies have found that with the dollar exchange rate of 7,500 Lebanese pounds, this would mean eight thousand pounds for a bundle of bread, almost 100,000 pounds for a tank of gas, while the cost of medications would multiply five-fold, with the price of Panadol exceeding 15 thousand pounds! To get a more precise understanding of the situation, a quick look at the minimum wage, 675 thousand pounds, suffices. It is equivalent to only 90 dollars, and it is known that almost 60% of those who are of working age are unemployed!
Reports regularly indicate that Lebanon no longer has the luxury of taking its time. It urgently needs to break the cycle that isolated the country and severely limited its ability to bring in foreign currencies, as with every passing day, the situation exacerbates. From the declaration of bankruptcy after the great collapse caused by orchestrated plunder to the war crime the explosion at the port that obliterated the backbone of the Lebanese economy, incinerating large parts of Beirut, and between them, the pandemic’s outbreak and the rapid increase in the number of coronavirus cases, all of these factors multiplied the extent of the general powerlessness.
It should compel the development of a framework for salvation without delay!
There is no need for “pounding in the sand.” The framework required cannot but spring from the necessity of adopting policies different from those that had been pursued by the regime of corruption in decades passed, especially since the presidential settlement in 2016 that put the country’s decision-making in the hands of Hezbollah and its subordinate, the Free Patriotic Movement, the current of the president of the republic’s party. Recognition was thereby granted to the military interventions of the “party’s” militia, per the Iranian agenda’s dictates, in the region and beyond. This led to the isolation of Lebanon, which turned into a platform for launching attacks against brothers and friends alike! This duo and its subordinates’ conduct was exposed, and it seemed isolated and beleaguered in the face of furious popular backlash!
It is at this stage that French President Emmanuel Macron came, carrying the symbolism of the French-Lebanese historical relationship with him. The visit coincided with the dominant regional power’s isolation and beleaguerment, that is, the Iranian regime, through its directly controlled tool Hezbollah. Thus, France overseeing a mandate - tutelage over Lebanon was accepted. A country well accustomed to playing this role, France was left to give a lifeline to the isolated and deeply-hated political class in crisis, the economic model that brought suffering and the authorities who govern in the name of their sects and replaced the constitution with the corrupt sectarian regime of spoil-sharing on the basis of sectarian quotas. There is no clearer indication of the extent of the entire political clique’s isolation than the fact that, even a full month after the capital and its people were subjected to the genocidal crime, no official of any rank headed to the areas that had been devastated to talk to the people and listen to their concerns, after they had buried what remains of their loved ones among victims and their life’s work had been destroyed before their very eyes!
During his first visit to examine the damages, Macron proposed the rubric. He preceded his second visit with naming the Lebanese prime minister, who had been chosen by an employee in his administration. He left the “race” to announce the name to the others in Beirut, who announced their unconditional submission to the outside. President Macron went as far as granting the Lebanese president a way out of his isolation on the one hand, and, one the other hand, heeding Iran’s interests in Lebanon and beyond. He took it upon himself to lecture us about the differences between Hezbollah’s armed and political wing and limited the crises facing Lebanon to the urgent and pressing need to reform. He is nonetheless bound to fail as the statelet invades the state, and the limitations on what is permissible persist. And in his proposals, he leaped above widespread public demands for accountability for the August fourth crime through a transparent international investigation. Simultaneously, a team of French businessmen was advancing on the port’s rubble and the devasted area to secure lucrative contracts for reconstructing the port, operating the container terminal, and other maritime activity.
Everyone knows that Ambassador Mustafa Adeeb, who was named prime minister before the binding parliamentary consultations, a crude breach of the constitution, had been an advisor to the head of the “blackshirts’” (name given to Hezbollah militias members who operate within Lebanon and engage in violent political intimidation) government, Najib Mikati. This Hezbollah-imposed government was in place during that stage that the country’s borders and sovereignty were nullified. Lebanon became embroiled in the murder of the Syrian people. The country turned into a refugee camp after the erection of refugee camps in areas close to the borders was prevented! The “achievement” that is his appointment as prime minister would not have been possible without the role played by the “former prime ministers’ club”, which granted cover to the option that had been presented to it, a decision that gravely disparages the importance of the moment Lebanon and its people are undergoing. However, this cover is nevertheless partial and local, and does not imply, in any way, a restoration of Arab-Gulf cover, especially in light of the current circumstances, when we are at a real turning point with regard to pulling the country up from rock bottom.
What is certain is that the members of this club pursued this option, going as far as saving the ruling duo that the people blame for the crime of the genocidal explosion at the port. They have overlooked the significance of the Special Tribunal’s verdict in the Prime Minister Rafic Hariri assassination trial and went beyond its repercussions. They also ignored the significant amendments to the missions of the “UNIFIL” forces introduced by the Security Council and turned a blind eye on the state’s hijacking.
They know that this choice will waste a lot of Lebanon’s time, as their steps amount to nothing more than replicating Hassan Diab’s government, and it is impossible to mislead the people with such pitiful theatrics. That much is obvious from the widespread repudiation of this move, as well as the people’s response with which Mustafa Adeeb was faced during his visit to the devastated area. Tehran will remain the primary beneficiary for the few months until the US presidential elections!
Not much has changed on the Lebanese street or in Lebanon’s general conditions. There is a grave concern about the expansion of the social catastrophes in the next ESCWA report. Today, the October Revolution’s powerful slogan sounds oh so fitting: “All of them means all of them, and we don’t exclude a single of them.” It looks like Mustafa Adeeb is one of them.
