Stagnation dominates the presidential election file amid decreased efforts to advance consultations for electing a president for the republic and rescuing the country from its crisis. In the meantime, daily life issues overshadowed the government's discussions yesterday, which did not include an extension for General Security Director Major General Abbas Ibrahim, who is set to retire on Thursday without a decision regarding his successor as of now.
In this context, and with the absence of dialogue initiatives, National Moderation Bloc member MP Ahmad Rustom revealed that during the bloc's meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh last week, they heard serious remarks from Berri about not returning to the white paper. He stated that there would be no call for a session to elect a president unless there was prior agreement on the president's name, which signifies that matters regarding the presidential issue remain stagnant.
Rustom expressed hope in a conversation with the electronic newspaper "Al-Anbaa" that positions among all political parties would change, facilitating the election of a president without delay, as the country is, in his view, precariously balanced, and the people have lost faith in everything, especially with the hint of dollarization of prices starting tomorrow, Wednesday, and the absence of regulatory agencies for consumer protection. He pointed to the peculiarity of this country’s structure and the absence of the national cohesion that prevailed in past decades.
He questioned the roles of the two Maronite blocs, the Strong Lebanon bloc and the Strong Republic bloc, regarding this election and what concessions they have made to resolve the crisis. He remarked, "It's strange that everyone is waiting for outside help while that outside says to us, help yourselves so we can help you. Unfortunately, we do not want to help ourselves," ruling out a resolution to the presidential crisis before a settlement in the region, as all eyes today are directed towards Syria and Lebanon becomes secondary. He denied that the National Moderation Bloc has any presidential candidate amid these divisions, stating that any candidate not able to rally over 50 deputies around them would be making a mistake. The president must have the support of the majority of deputies to govern, he noted, emphasizing that "it's strange that everyone agrees on the criteria for selecting a president, but no one wants to implement them."
Simultaneously, the dollar defied all expectations, and instead of decreasing alongside the banks' return from their strike, it recorded a dramatic surge, surpassing the threshold of 85,000 on Monday evening. Meanwhile, the banking sector resumed operations yesterday for just one week, to conclude with an extraordinary general assembly meeting for banks on Friday, where a final decision will be made based on the data and developments regarding whether to continue operations or return to striking.
In this context, banking sources expressed their satisfaction with the Prime Minister's remarks at the opening of the session concerning the ongoing clash between the judiciary and banks, noting his readiness to take over this file and take necessary actions to ensure banks do not return to striking. They affirmed, via "Al-Anbaa" electronic outlet, that they operate within the framework of the law but refuse to be targeted by the judiciary for reasons they have never been responsible for.
The sources viewed the decision to demand lifting banking secrecy from some banks in a selective manner as very unjust and a threat to the complete collapse of the banking sector. These are decisive days for the regularity of work in Lebanese financial markets, and it seems they will witness new increases in the exchange rate of the dollar, a matter that will have significant repercussions for Lebanese people facing their new fate, as they will have to adapt to a "dollarized" country in all its details.
