The National Bloc: ‘The scene is over… Lebanon is again held hostage by the weapon of obstruction”

"Hezbollah-Amal" have reached an unprecedented level of insolence! Both parties are bestowing the Lebanese with the favor of ending their long boycott of the government.

This comes after Hezbollah and Amal released a statement that they would end a boycott of cabinet sessions, paving the way for the government to convene for the first time in three months after a deadlock over the investigation into the catastrophic Beirut port blast.

The “duo” is part of the governing elites that failed to deliver on its promises, from negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, to distributing aid to the poorest families, to the forensic audit and even the preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The Cabinet’s inability to meet delayed the implementation of measures to alleviate the economic crisis, which the World Bank described as the worst since the mid-nineteenth century.

The “preconditional return” of the Shiite duo to the government only to vote on a budget that does not yield solutions to the current financial crisis or comes up with an economic plan, but rather is considered an electoral bribery, is an act of ignorance to the constitution and the concept of institutional work.

The duo has decided to return to the government after obstructing the investigation into the August 4 explosion and blackmailing the Lebanese people for demanding justice. Actually “Those who were ashamed died!”.

Hezbollah" and "Amal Movement" return to a government in a so-called “failed state”. It is the government of the same corrupt ruthless system that keeps ignoring the agony of the Lebanese by its negligence to deal with impending disasters. Despite the dire need of the Lebanese for a solution to urgent living dossiers related to their livelihoods and purchasing power, still the stubborn ruling regime dither to carry out any reform or begin “rescue” missions.

It is no secret that the same government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati is meddling in the judiciary’s work and systematically impeding the investigation into the financial crimes committed by Riad Salameh, the governor of Lebanon's Central Bank, namely embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, illicit enrichment, money laundering and many others.

It is no secret that the same government is manipulated by foreign powers. It is them who determine whether the government’s work should continue or should be disrupted, while the ruling regime succumbs without hesitation to the orders of its regional masters regardless of the sufferance of the Lebanese citizens.  

As for the general budget for 2022, which is intended to impose additional taxes on citizens by fixing a higher exchange rate for the dollar, in parallel with amending public sector's wages and salaries based on the new exchange rate, is a conspicuous attempt to pile further pressure on the population that has already been plunged into extreme poverty.

The proposed draft budget is an additional evidence that the system has no intention to manage Lebanon’s compounding historic crises, carry out any reform or develop any economic plan to pull the country out of the pit. Never has a state been so bereft of a government dedicated to its survival!

In the absence of a national elite dedicated to protecting and salvaging institutions from the ruins of a nation, it is impossible to aspire for change. The same ruling political elite who ruined Lebanon are not eligible to draw rescue policies to lift it from the rubble.

The country needs an exit strategy from the crisis, most crucially new power. Achieving political change is through elections in May 2022, and through forming a new functioning government free from foreign dependency, free from the grip of the banking system and from the blackmail of the obstruction’s policies, otherwise survivors will continue to be held hostage in a land that shows no signs of a better future.