Paris: Lebanon’s Elections Will Be Held On Time Despite Differences Over Law

A woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote during the parliamentary election in Beirut, Lebanon, May 6, 2018. - Reuters
A woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote during the parliamentary election in Beirut, Lebanon, May 6, 2018. - Reuters
TT
20

Paris: Lebanon’s Elections Will Be Held On Time Despite Differences Over Law

A woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote during the parliamentary election in Beirut, Lebanon, May 6, 2018. - Reuters
A woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote during the parliamentary election in Beirut, Lebanon, May 6, 2018. - Reuters

Paris has informed Lebanese leaders that the parliamentary polls would be held on time in May 2022, before the end of the current parliament’s mandate, stressing that the dispute over the electoral law would not hinder the elections, which are the mandatory path to re-establishing the authority In Lebanon, a European diplomatic source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The official noted that the international support group was currently studying taking a supportive stance for Paris’ insistence on holding the parliamentary elections on time, which would include a direct warning to the ruling authorities of the serious political damage to Lebanon if the elections were postponed.

He noted that the current election law, which is still valid, will be adopted if an agreement was not reached over a new law. However, the source stressed that some parties’ call for early parliamentary polls were only attempts of intimidation, as the current parliament’s term ends in only 11 months.

The same source considered that holding the elections on time should come in parallel with efforts to provide the minimum factors of stability for the Lebanese to avoid a social explosion. This would require the formation of a government that adopts the reforms included in French President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative to save Lebanon.

“Such a government would be capable of negotiating with the IMF to provide a dose of support that would secure the required oxygen for the state,” according to the European diplomatic official.

Moreover, the source underlined that the French support for the Lebanese army was aimed at helping the military institution and other security forces to assume their role in maintaining stability.

In this context, Paris is preparing to hold an international conference to support the military institution while waiting for the formation of the government as a condition for Lebanon to receive aid that contributes to alleviating the suffering of the citizens.

Meanwhile, local parliamentary sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hussein Khalil, the political aide to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, had contacted the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gibran Bassil, in the past hours, in preparation for a meeting to take place at any moment, bringing them together with Speaker Nabih Berri’s political assistant, MP Ali Hassan Khalil.

Accordingly, the negotiations to form a government enter a crucial stage with the tripartite meeting. Observers are waiting to see whether white smoke will rise from this meeting or will Bassil continue with his game of buying time.



Iraqi Markets a Haven for Pedlars Escaping Iran's Economic Woes

An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP
An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP
TT
20

Iraqi Markets a Haven for Pedlars Escaping Iran's Economic Woes

An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP
An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP

Every Friday, Alawi crosses the border from Iran into Iraq to sell his produce in the markets of Basra, which serve as a haven for Iranians grappling with economic sanctions.
He is just one of many Iranian pedlars who endure the arduous journey into southern Iraq through the Chalamja border crossing, AFP said.
They bring essential goods such as chicken, eggs, cooking oil and household items to sell at low prices, hoping for a profit that would be unimaginable back home due to sharp currency depreciation and soaring inflation.
"The situation is difficult due to the embargo," Alawi said, referring to Western sanctions against Iran.
Asking to withhold his surname for fear of repercussions back home, the 36-year-old said he had not given up easily on his country, and had tried to sell his produce in a market there.
"There were no customers, and the products would spoil, so we had to throw them away and end up losing" money, he told AFP.
Instead, for the past seven years, he has been travelling to Iraq where he sells okra in summer and dates in winter, earning between $30 and $50 a day –- much more than he could make at home.
"When we exchange Iraqi money" for Iranian rials, "it's a lot," the father of two said.
"We can spend it in five days or even a week," he added.
'A lifeline'
After a brief period of relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program, US President Donald Trump reimposed the biting measures during his first term in 2018.
Ever since, the value of the Iranian rial has plunged, fueling high inflation and unemployment.
Prices soared last month by more than 32 percent compared to March the previous year, according to official figures.
Trump announced this week that his administration would restart negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, with talks to take place in Oman on Saturday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said his country's chief aim is for US sanctions to be lifted.
In the meantime, Basra's markets continue to bustle with Iranian vendors.
At the Friday market, bags of rice were stacked on plastic crates next to bottles of detergent.
While some vendors chatted with customers, others dozed off beside their shopping bags, rubbing off the weariness of a long journey.
Hayder al-Shakeri of the London-based Chatham House think-tank's Middle East and North Africa program said informal cross-border trade "has expanded significantly over the past decade as sanctions on Iran have increasingly impacted everyday life."
Basra's proximity to Iran's Khuzestan province, where many residents speak Arabic and share cultural values with Iraq, makes it a primary target for mostly working-class Iranian vendors, Shakeri said.
Among them are women and elderly men whose livelihoods have been severely impacted by inflation, he said, calling the cross-border trade "a vital lifeline".
"Earning in more stable currencies like the Iraqi dinar or even US dollars provides a financial buffer" against the devaluated rial, he added.
Better and cheaper
Iran wields considerable political influence in Iraq and is a major trade partner for the country, the second-largest importer of non-oil Iranian goods.
Trade between the two countries amounts to tens of billions of dollars.
Milad, 17, and his mother have been selling household essentials in Basra for the past two years. Fearing a worsening situation back home, they recently rented a small shop.
In Iran, "finding work is hard, and the currency is weak," said curly-haired Milad, who declined to give his last name, adding that his cousin has been looking for a job since he graduated.
Iraqi math professor Abu Ahmad, 55, strolls to the market every Friday, looking for fresh Iranian goods.
"Their geymar is better than ours," he said, referring to the cream Iraqis have with honey for breakfast.

It is also cheaper.

"They sell it for 12,000 dinars ($8)" compared to an Iraqi price of 16,000, he added.

Shakeri from Chatham House warned that local vendors "resent the competition", and Iraqi security forces sometimes remove Iranians, though they know they will eventually return.

Umm Mansur, a 47-year-old Iranian mother of five, has had a bitter experience since she joined other pedlars six months ago.

At the border, "they insult and mistreat us," she said.

Other pedlars have described similar experiences, saying they were held up for hours at the crossing.

Umm Mansur said she is willing to overlook the mistreatment to earn four times what she would at home.

"In Iran, there is no way to make a living," she said.