Revelers celebrate New Year’s Eve at a pub in Beirut after authorities lifted COVID-19 restrictions. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — Before a COVID-19 surge killed over 1,000 people, before a flood of cases overwhelmed hospitals and before the state imposed a strict lockdown without providing financial aid, top Lebanese officials bowed to the will of a private lobby and allowed venues to open for late-night partying during the busy holiday season, amid a deadly pandemic.
Those responsible for the reopening are not a secret; their statements, and more importantly decisions, are a matter of public record. The president, caretaker interior minister and six of his colleagues in the cabinet all attended meetings that moved along or approved a plan put forward by the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Nightclubs and Patisseries.
The syndicate even thanked these public servants for helping their business interests and providing them with “a dose of oxygen,” scant weeks before fearful families scrambled to find oxygen generators for loved ones unable to secure a hospital spot for COVID-19 treatment.
Two lobbyists — the head of the syndicate and his counterpart at the Federation of Tourism Establishments — argued nightlife venues operating at limited capacity were safer than people’s homes. They warned that the hospitality sector, hit by Lebanon’s financial meltdown and the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion, required the boost of holiday season revenues to stay afloat.
The bottom line of money, more specifically hard cash from abroad, featured prominently in their arguments in favor of reopening the country during a pandemic. The lobbyists for the hospitality sector — in a country where travel and tourism normally make up 18 percent of GDP — wanted to entice Lebanese expatriates to return home to a vibrant nightlife and spend their earnings.
‘Spend the night in our safe venues’
After Lebanon ended a 16-day lockdown on Nov. 30, lobbies for hospitality and tourism businesses swung into action, demanding loosened COVID-19 restrictions to help capitalize on the expected holiday rush.
At the time, restaurants were allowed to reopen — at 50 percent capacity — until 10 p.m., while pubs and nightclubs were ordered to remain shut across the country. These rules were not palatable for representatives of nightlife venues.
On Dec. 2, Federation of Tourism Establishments Secretary-General Jean Beyrouthy told the National News Agency that a holiday spirit would not be possible if restaurants were not allowed to stay open for nights out.
He also expressed his hope that the tourism sector would be opened up in two weeks time, insisting these businesses were “committed to preventive measures, even more so than hospitals.”
The supposed safety of establishments operating at half capacity became a common refrain from the lobbyists in their public statements, as did the financial pressures these businesses were facing.
On Dec. 7, the nightlife businesses syndicate said that owners of nightlife venues have the right to benefit from the holiday season, adding that it was unacceptable for them to fall off “the tourism map, especially on New Year’s Eve.”
“Let’s leave our overcrowded homes and spend the night in our safe venues,” the statement said.
That same night, a group of pub and nightclub owners held a protest outside Casino du Liban, briefly blocking the nearby highway, to demonstrate against the “arbitrary and selective” measures against their sector.
Lobbying efforts also harped on the expected windfall from Lebanese expatriates returning home for the holidays.
In a Dec. 9 radio interview, Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Nightclubs and Patisseries vice president Khaled Nazha called for lifting the curfew to encourage expatriates to fly into Lebanon and spend their money at restaurants and clubs.
Beyrouthy echoed this sentiment, saying on Dec. 10 that without tourism, hard cash would not enter the country during the holidays. He added that between July and the end of October, 120,000 visitors to Lebanon spent $320 million.
On Dec. 13, the Interior Ministry allowed pubs and nightclubs to open, albeit only until 10:30 p.m., not meeting the lobby’s demands for late hours.
Amid the lobbyists’ growing public appeals, Beyrouthy said on Dec. 14 that he requested an appointment with President Michel Aoun, warning that if the situation continued it would “lead to the annihilation of the tourism sector and the emigration of those who believed in the country.”
The stage was set for the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Nightclubs and Patisseries as well as the Federation of Tourism Establishments to push their proposal to reopen nightlife to state authorities.
Authorities promise action
Beyrouthy and Tony Ramy, the head of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Nightclubs and Patisseries, had an audience with the president on the morning of Dec. 15 to discuss their vision for the holiday season.
Aoun expressed his support for their proposed reopening, according to a statement by the syndicate, and promised he would follow up on the matter with the COVID-19 ministerial committee.
The president’s statement, meanwhile, said that he stressed the importance of achieving harmony between COVID-19 countermeasures and preserving economic life in Lebanon, without acknowledging whether he supported the lobbyists’ efforts.
However, the president’s statement included a readout of Beyrouthy and Ramy’s comments to reporters regarding Aoun’s support for their proposal.
Following their sit-down at the Presidential Palace, Beyrouthy and Ramy headed to the Interior Ministry in Beirut, where restaurant, pub and club owners were staging a protest. One of the participants said that they were “promised the COVID-19 committee would move forward its meeting and take a decision doing them justice.”
“I call on Lebanese expatriates and all foreign tourists who love Lebanon to visit our restaurants, cafes, pubs and nightclubs,” Ramy said.
“Hopefully dancing will also be allowed, not on the dance floor, but at the tables,” he added, a reference to the Interior Ministry’s widely mocked prohibition on dancing at clubs issued two days earlier.
The two lobbyists’ meeting with the caretaker interior minister went well, at least according to them. Mohamed Fehmi, for his part, said he promised to relay Beyrouthy and Ramy’s desire to push back the curfew time during the holidays to the Committee for Follow-Up Procedures & Preventive Measures for COVID-19.
The minister’s statement added that he noted “the importance of the influx of Lebanese expatriates as well as foreign tourists to Lebanon, which would contribute to reviving tourism and economic activity.”
It was mission accomplished, so far, for Beyrouthy and Ramy in their efforts to open the country’s bars and nightclubs amid a pandemic. Now it was up to two COVID-19 committees to approve their plan for the supposed safe running of venues.
The syndicate’s 10-point plan called for nightlife businesses to run at half capacity, limit tables to between six and eight people, forbid live musical acts from 1 a.m. until close at 3 a.m., and prohibit birthday cakes, among other restrictions.
Officials decide an ‘orderly reopening’ won’t spread the virus
The Committee for Follow-up Procedures & Preventive Measures for COVID-19 convened to tackle the syndicate’s plan on Dec. 16, the same day Lebanon registered its highest number of virus cases since the previous lockdown ended.
Beyrouthy and Ramy attended the meeting, which was chaired by Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Asmar — the secretary-general of the Higher Defense Council — and included Walid Khoury and Petra Khoury, the president and caretaker premier’s health advisors, as well representatives of public health institutions.
The committee approved their plan for encouraging nightlife via a 3 a.m. curfew, arguing that the “orderly reopening of sectors” would not contribute to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Instead, the committee said “private gatherings and revelries held in houses and chalets” would help lead to an “expected 25 percent increase in infections in January 2021,” citing “available scientific data.”
The syndicate thanked the committee for backing their plan, claiming that “some exaggerations in the numbers of infections and predictions of their increase have become a tool for manipulation.”
“At times, we hear that the number of cases has decreased and the lockdown has achieved its desired result. At other times, we hear about an upcoming second, third or fourth wave, especially with the approaching of any major event or milestone, notably at the tourist level,” the statement added, in an implicit reference to fears at the time of a COVID-19 surge following the holidays.
The COVID-19 ministerial committee met two days later at the Grand Serail to follow up on the proposed loosened restrictions, gathering together the caretaker ministers of defense, economy, interior, industry, health, youth and sports, foreign affairs, Maj. Gen. Asmar, the president’s director-general and the caretaker premier’s health advisor.
A terse official statement after the meeting made no mention of whether it approved the plan to push back curfew and allow the reopening of nightlife venues. Our sister publication L'Orient-Le Jour confirmed that the ministerial committee endorsed the recommendation to extend opening hours.
The syndicate, in turn, said the ministerial committee decided “to allow the tourism sector to open its doors.”
Pursuant to the recommendations of these committees, the Interior Ministry unveiled a new set of measures for Dec. 23-31, including a brief curfew from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. and allowing pubs and nightclubs to open at half capacity.
Beyrouthy and Ramy, the lobbyists who pushed for curbing the restrictions, expressed thanks to “everyone who sought to reach this decision,” including the president, caretaker premier and ministers.