National Bloc: The responsibility is huge; the regime government is incompetent until proven otherwise

The ruling system, which is dependent [on foreign powers], formed a government...

Since October 17, we have been calling for the formation of a government that is independent of this ruling system. A government with the political will to reform and the ability to restore the confidence of the people, the international community, and investors, in order to stop the collapse and revive the economy to avoid the dire conditions we have reached today.

We have been calling for the formation of a government that is independent of the ruling system, knowing in advance that a Cabinet based on regional deals, power-sharing quotas, and dependent on the interests of a system that impoverished the Lebanese people, is unable to rescue the country, and to take basic steps, particularly to ensure the judicial independence, perform the forensic audit, restructure the banking sector, reform the Central Bank, and establish a social safety net.

But as usual, the revelation came from outside Lebanon's borders. The Lebanese leaders waited for the regional and international green light, and the government was finally formed more than a year after the Beirut port explosion, and the rapid deterioration of the economic and living conditions of the Lebanese people. Lebanon experienced the world's worst ever economic contraction in the past two years, if we exclude war-related cases, according to the World Bank.

Immediate Measures

A huge responsibility lies on the government that was formed today, and easing the suffering of the Lebanese people should be at the top of its agenda.

Such action requires immediate measures to address the growing shortage of basic goods, the collapse of the education and health sectors, and the unprecedented increase in emigration rates since decades.

Lift the current subsidy system that has become a funding source for the regime, its militias, and its smugglers' nets, which put people's lives at risk.

Break up the import cartels and monopolies, and strictly control the quality and price of goods.

Replace subsidies with direct cash grants to the Lebanese people, funded by World Bank loans and the IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), under the direct supervision of donors.

Partially use SDRs to immediately improve the power sector production.

Reconsider the public sector employment policy and strengthen government departments by raising the salaries of civil servants, by ensuring their funding during the coming months, and give the priority to the education and health sectors.

Consolidate the exchange rate.

Prepare for the parliamentary elections to be held on their constitutional date, with an independent administration that paves the way for a legislative and executive authority capable of implementing a plan to get the country back on track.

A sovereign and secular choice to build the country and the free and fair economy.

The interests of the Lebanese people are above all considerations. Fully aware of our responsibility, we explicitly say that there is no confidence in those who are responsible for the pain and suffering of the people since 1975.

As an opposition party, we declare that the role of the current political class is over, and today it constitutes an obstacle to the recovery of Lebanon. We reaffirm that the only real change we want to see is the emergence of a political class that represents the popular will in the upcoming parliamentary elections. We also reiterate that the sovereign and secular choice is the main requirement to build the country, along with a free and fair economy... All over again.