On a ‘Sovereign Wealth Funded’ Dictated by the ‘Sanctity’ of Deposits

After conquering the city of Tyre, Alexander the Great wrote to his concubine in Macedonia, reassuring her that it would not be long before he returned from Phoenicia. He spoke of beautiful mountains that resemble his homeland’s, the abundance of water and agricultural land, and coastal cities whose ports are just as busy as those of the Greek maritime cities. He also told her that he was satisfied with the conditions of his soldiers and commanders, who were being showered with "gifts," and about her offer he had received from notables and prominent merchants. They offered him half of the profits from their flourishing trade in exchange for putting the ports and trade under his protection (...) "What kind of notables are they? How have they managed to maintain their tyranny while clinging to an occupier, proposing tribute that defies imagination!"
The genes of these notables who shocked Alexander the Great have been passed down from generation to generation, reaching the despotic clique running Lebanon and shaping the lives of its people. When Syrian troops were still stationed on Lebanese soil, certain segments garnered unprecedented wealth with Syria’s backing, exchanging "services" with Syrian army officers that allowed the latter to reach levels of wealth beyond their wildest dreams. When opposition to Syria’s tutelage grew louder, a perpetual presidential candidate announced that he would obstruct the departure of Syrian tanks with his bare chest!
Following the "Independence Intifada" of 2005, which capitalized on a favorable global context to expel the Syrian army, Lebanon’s sectarian leaders betrayed their people, entering a "Quadripartite Alliance” with Hezbollah. They exchanged "services" by consolidating the "sectarian-quota-based spoil-sharing regime." They worked together in parliamentary committees to "cook up" their laws and formed coalition governments. To tell the truth, some of them did rhetorically oppose the actions of "the party" when Hezbollah went too far and made it impossible to save face. However, this does not negate the golden rule: Hezbollah’s arms protect corruption, which, in turn, protects its arms!
The resulting tensions and crises, which culminated in the financial collapse, did nothing to change the spoil-sharing formula. After emptying the state’s coffers, they launched their assault on citizens' deposits, which had been the primary source of dollars for years. In this climate, "Al-Qard Al-Hassan" became Hezbollah's financial institution, and the "parallel economy" expanded. Using what remained of citizens’ deposits, the government subsidized essential goods like fuel, which cost the country billions of dollars, and allowed monopolists (most of whom are the affiliates or frontmen of members of the ruling clique) to multiply their profits, granting the statelet additional funding. However, we would not be presenting the "full picture," if we did not discuss the "Sayrafa" platform, which refinanced bankrupt banks and reckless bankers, giving rise to a class that got rich during the country’s great collapse.
Under Syrian tutelage and then under Hezbollah’s hegemony, the total absence of morality in politics became obvious. The level of elites’ education declined, except when it came to concluding profitable deals at the expense of the state and its finances. Naturally, this exchange of "services" led the elites to cover for Hezbollah as it hijacked the state and imposed its decisions, the latest of which was to drag the country into a destructive war. The most notable achievement of this war is the destruction of the South, which has been turned into scorched earth. Tens of thousands have been displaced, and hundreds have been killed, including more than 360 of Hezbollah's field commanders. Hezbollah's death toll suggests that the country was penetrated by hostile security services and that Israel amassed highly precise and sensitive information.
Lebanon’s financial and economic collapse, its national and political crises (the presidential and executive vacuums), and this destructive war should have been the first thing on vital political forces' agenda, as well as that of parliament, which has been denied its authority to make decisions. Instead, nine months into the brutal war on Gaza and Hezbollah's "distraction war," the spoil-sharing regime’s opposition quota system called on parliament to convene and discuss this pressing situation. Thus, a broad parliamentary session was held to discuss "establishing an independent institution and the trust fund for managing state assets." In other words, parliament discussed the establishment of a "sovereign wealth fund" that includes state assets, justifying this with its narrative about the "sanctity of deposits"! This sanctity has become the slogan that "banker" MPs (who had blocked reforms and facilitated plunder since 2019) hid behind.
Two proposals were submitted by the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces. They were endorsed by the Amal Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party, Hezbollah, and so-called "independent" MPs. The manner in which this process was managed shows that the intention is to create a legal framework for future plunder under the pretext of protecting bank deposits. After the hope that oil and gas would be found had faded, Lebanese political elites rushed to find an alternative source of funding. This meeting, which was aimed at developing a project to facilitate this heist, exposed the hypocrisy of the political clashes with "the party," as all the revenue from the southern Lebanon front now goes to Iran!
The "sovereign wealth fund" will include all state assets, which belong to the Lebanese people and not those who have seized the country. The assets include coastal land, ports, airports, publicly owned land, telecommunications networks, gold reserves, and more. These are assets that could be used to put the country on the path to recovery. However, placing them under the control of those who have systematically looted the country- deliberately leading it to collapse, subjugating the judiciary, and paralyzing Lebanon’s institutions- is intended only to protect the power of the plunderers. The intention is to ensure that accountability is obstructed and that they evade punishment for financial crimes, as well as to deceive depositors whose savings are being drained.