Ahmad has been waiting for weeks for the reopening of civil status offices in Akkar to obtain a civil status extract he needs, without any results. The strike of public sector employees has entered its second month, resulting in a complete shutdown of official institutions and halting the operations of state departments. Meanwhile, citizens' transactions across all administrations and ministries are frozen, the least of which includes obtaining civil status extracts, both individual and family types.
A few months ago, the issue was the lack of special papers for civil status extracts, which disrupted many citizens' transactions due to their inability to obtain civil status certificates. Now, the crisis has taken on a different form due to the strike by public sector employees who are refusing to attend their workspaces to demand wage increases. In this context, all official institutions are currently experiencing a paralysis, especially after the failure of the mediation efforts made by the Minister of Labor with the public administration employees' association, which did not yield any results other than the continuation of the association's strike, which has now extended into its second month.
Employees, who are suffering from deteriorating conditions across all levels as their salaries have decreased to the lowest limits and no guaranteeing bodies are available, do not seem to find the authorities, incapable of managing the crisis, able to secure their rights and demands, particularly regarding salary increases. Meanwhile, the citizen is the biggest sufferer, caught between the hammer of the strike and the anvil of the state.
Citizens are raising their voices daily to demand a solution to this dilemma, expressing that, "Why can't the concerned ministers find a temporary solution mechanism that allows one employee to work in each department one day a week, rotating with colleagues weekly to manage essential transactions for the people?" This, they believe, would facilitate citizen matters, provided the state compensates the working employee with transportation allowances and special payments for the workday. Citizens think that if the state negotiates with employees for this purpose, they will likely respond for the sake of the people, as they are ultimately part of the same populace.
On the side of the crisis, the mukhtars of Akkar are also suffering from the employees' strike, as civil status offices remain closed, and they have many pending civil status extract transactions and additional daily requests from citizens, for which they have no fulfilling answers. Mukhtar of Bnein, Zahir Al-Kassar, emphasized that the employees' strike has greatly impacted citizens in Akkar, especially those who urgently need civil status extracts, such as patients, newborn cases, and individuals registered on platforms for passports and certifications.
He added, "The crisis is significant for the people, and requests exceed needs. We hope to find a swift solution to the crisis that has paralyzed the state entirely and secure the rights of both employees and citizens, as no one can complete any official task in this country without a civil status extract." Al-Kassar urged the Minister of Interior and Municipalities and the General Director of Personal Status to work quickly to resolve this crisis, which threatens the state’s existence and directly impacts the interests of the people.
