National Bloc: We are not waiting for US Treasury sanctions to know that you looted our treasury
The Lebanese National Bloc Party released the following statement: The allegations by the ruling establishment, particularly those who were affected by US sanctions, that they are targeted because of their national positions as they claim, will not change the truth.
These allegations will not change the fact that they are corrupt, and that the Lebanese were not waiting for the US Treasury Department to inform them that their rulers are corrupt. As for the Lebanese sovereignty that was compromised again by sanctions targeting the two former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Youssef Fenianos, it would not have been compromised if this same establishment had not solicited all kinds of foreign interference, whether through allegiances, blind dependency, or Hezbollah's involvement in region’s wars.
Although the National Bloc considers that the United States is using the sanctions stick according to its own interests, it sees that the defeat of the rampant corruption, that is deeply rooted within all aspects of the state in Lebanon, might need an assistance from the United Nations in the context of implementing its Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which Lebanon has ratified in 2008. Seeking an international justice, instead of a lost local justice, will continue as long as the Lebanese judiciary is still chained to the sects’ parties that are supporting the corruption.
It is true that the October 17 uprising toppled two governments that emerged from the corruption authority. However, ending this vicious spiral, and halting the ruling establishment that is still attempting to form the same type of Cabinets, will only happen after holding this establishment accountable and targeting it with sanctions that are commensurate with the level of crimes it committed against the nation and every citizen. If internal accountability fails, let the United Nations hold it accountable.