Bechara al-Asmar, president of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers, delivers a speech on Wednesday during a sit-in in front of the union’s headquarters. (Credit: NNA)
Hundreds of private and public sector workers went on strike and held sit-ins across the country yesterday to decry deteriorating living conditions. Protesters briefly blocked roads in Tripoli and Dora in the morning and closed local offices of various public institutions in areas stretching from Akkar to Metn to Nabatieh and Sur. Union representatives told L’Orient Today that they were calling for the formation of a new government that would address increasing poverty levels. They also rejected the removal of subsidies from basic goods, which officials have warned could come at the end of this month as the central bank’s dollar reserves run low. While the strike on Wednesday was limited, a General Confederation of Lebanese Workers representative said the unions were prepared to take escalatory measures if their demands went unmet.
For the 10th month in a row, year-on-year inflation has been in the triple digits, according to the Central Administration of Statistics’ latest figures. Inflation has increased by more than 120 percent since April 2020, based on the change in prices of a selection of goods and services, although inflation has been starker for certain categories. For example, the year-over-year cost of household goods and maintenance rose 501 percent, while food and nonalcoholic drinks cost 229 percent more, and hotel and restaurant prices increased 401 percent. In the year before the onset of the economic crisis in mid-2019, inflation was just 4 percent.
The president signed off on the caretaker prime minister’s plan for a ration card to support 750,000 vulnerable Lebanese families, inching it closer to realization. Now that it has received Michel Aoun’s signature, Hassan Diab’s proposed support mechanism, which would replace the current subsidies program, will go to Parliament for discussion and approval. According to a copy of the plan seen by L’Orient Today, the scheme would provide eligible families with an average of $154 per month, though the exact system for cash dispersal is unclear. Meanwhile, the United Nations’ World Food Program announced that it was tripling the number of beneficiaries of its monetary assistance program from 105,000 to 300,000 and giving a “top up” cash payment of LL200,000 per family to help keep up with soaring inflation.
Migrant workers in Lebanon have been rendered more vulnerable due to the economic crisis, COVID-19 pandemic and Beirut port explosion, the UN’s migration agency warned. More than half of the respondents to a survey of over 1,000 domestic workers, conducted by the International Organization for Migration, said they were unable to get enough food, and 50 percent said they were unemployed. The UN called for the facilitation of workers’ voluntary returns to their home countries, citing increased risk of exploitation. Migrant workers are among the most marginalized groups in Lebanon as they enjoy few rights or legal protections under the kafala, or “sponsorship,” system.
The Lebanese Forces and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, rival Lebanese political parties, alleged incitement to violence in lawsuits filed against each other yesterday. LF MPs accused the SSNP of inciting murder after partisans chanted “Samir, you’re next” during a rally on Sunday, referring to the party’s anti-Syria leader, Samir Geagea. The SSNP’s lawsuit said Geagea encouraged racial strife and violence, blaming him and his party for attacks on Syrians who cast their vote last Thursday in the country’s presidential election. Lebanon’s top prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat, has referred the cases to the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch for investigation.
The results of Syria’s presidential election are expected today, with another term for incumbent President Bashar al-Assad all but guaranteed. Syrians took to the polls across the country yesterday in elections that have been dismissed by Syrian opposition and Western governments as a farce. The dark shadow cast by the presidential election — Syria’s first since 2014 — has also loomed over Lebanon. Residents from Tripoli’s Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhoods told L’Orient Today they feared sectarian tensions that erupted between the neighborhoods after the start of Syrian civil war could break out anew over the results. And when Syrian residents of Lebanon voted at the Syrian Embassy last week, convoys with pro-Assad symbols faced violent attacks, while the offices of anti-Damascus political parties were firebombed.
Fuel should be more easily available at gas stations today after the central bank approved funding for fuel tankers that had been waiting off the coast to unload, according to fuel sector representatives. Fadi Abou Chakra, the head of the fuel distributors’ syndicate, and George Brax, a member of the gas station owners’ syndicate, said tankers began offloading fuel last night and distribution to stations would begin this morning. Long lines at gas stations have become a familiar sight in recent weeks as stations have rationed fuel or shut down entirely, blaming Banque du Liban for delaying the settlement of invoices with foreign suppliers and causing shortages. BDL has repeatedly denied this.