The Parliament held a session today, Wednesday, to approve the draft general budget for 2024, during which a dispute arose after MP Melhem Khalaf requested to speak, but Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri denied the request. Khalaf protested the legislation in light of the absence of a President of the Republic. Meanwhile, MP Qablan Qablan objected, stating that "this session is for discussing the budget and is not a governmental or other type of session."
At the beginning of the session, the Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, noted that the committee observed a lack of economic and social vision in the submitted budget project, as well as a decline in the percentage of allocations for investment expenses. He added that "the draft budget is characterized by randomness in the introduction of taxes and fees and lacks consistency in some allocations."
He explained that "the Finance Committee cancelled provisions related to tax amendments and the introduction of new taxes and fees for violating the constitution and the government's goal of securing additional revenues for the treasury, without considering the economic and social conditions and the economy's capacity for financing and the citizens' ability to endure." He emphasized that "the government is unaware of the detailed revenues it collected during 2022 and 2023 and is ignorant of the effects of dollarizing some fees during 2022, particularly airport and port fees, and is unaware of the potential revenue each amendment to the budget project can generate."
Kanaan pointed out that "the absence of vision is accompanied by the absence of uniform standards in the proposed amendments to existing fees, as some fees were raised tenfold, such as traffic fees, others raised by forty times like some stamp fees, and another set raised by 180 times, such as fees on locally produced alcoholic materials."
He added, "Contrary to what some media outlets have reported, the Finance Committee did not cancel Article 58 of the budget project related to how to collect a 10% tax on the revenues of stocks, bonds, and deposits of Lebanese abroad; rather, it has now become Article 42 of the amended project from the committee." He continued, "We reviewed the budget as submitted by the government and made substantive reforms regarding public finances. The Finance Committee removed Article 10, which allowed covering the interests of developmental loans after it became evident how clientelism clouded the granting of these loans, and how the Governor of the Central Bank singularly reported on them, and we are unaware of what supported loans were and who benefitted from them."
He explained that "the Finance Committee allocated 10 trillion Lebanese Lira for cancer and chronic medications, 1 trillion Lira for municipal and local elections, and modified allocations for some departments where the need became apparent, especially regarding food and liquid fuel expenses for military and security agencies and others."
He pointed out that "revenues, according to an official letter from the Ministry of Finance, increased from 277 trillion to 320 trillion, a difference of more than 40 trillion."
During the session, while MP Jamil Sayyed was delivering a speech, he mistakenly referred to MP Ibrahim Kanaan as "Ghazi Kanaan." This led to laughter among the members of Parliament.
MP Hassan Fadlallah affirmed that "our bloc carries the trust of the blood of the martyrs and their voice in this parliamentary council," stating: "The people of the South are convinced of their historical role in confronting the Zionist occupation and supporting just causes." He announced that "the Zionist entity was preparing for a preemptive strike against Lebanon before the Al-Aqsa Flood battle." Fadlallah confirmed that "we adhere to the right to self-defense and the right of the Lebanese to resist the occupation according to the government’s policy statements," pointing out that "what is needed is to align with the official position of the Lebanese state as expressed by the government in seeking to stop the aggression and protect the country, holding the enemy responsible for the attacks on Lebanon."
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab pointed out during the session that "it is easy to say this is a disastrous budget and claim that no one wants to proceed with it, but we thank the members of the Finance Committee and its head for their efforts." He noted that "I do not know who we are deceiving if we say we have zero deficits, or if it is a message, then to whom?" He stated: "It is difficult to move away from populism and focus on the interests of the citizens; if we had not discussed this budget, we would have reverted to the 2022 budget."
He confirmed that "this budget does not meet the needs of healthcare, education, institutions, not the security forces nor the military." On another note, Bou Saab addressed Prime Minister Najib Mikati, asking: "If Ghazi Zaiter were, for example, the current Minister of Defense, would you have dealt with him as you have dealt with the current Minister of Defense?" He considered that "Mikati added fuel to the fire in the conflict between the Minister of Defense and the Army Commander while the minister is trying to apply the law."
