Hezbollah supporters in Nabatieh on Nov. 11, 2021. (Credit: Aziz Taher/Reuters)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah MPs said Thursday they are opposed to the imposition of any new tax in the 2022 draft budget, which has been the subject of regular cabinet meetings since last week.
Here’s what we know:
• Following their weekly meeting, Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc said in a statement that it “will not accept the imposition of new taxes” and stressed “the need to allow depositors to withdraw their money” from banks without issuing policies that favor those responsible of keeping people’s deposits, “be it the state, the banks or the central bank.”
• The cabinet has almost finished examining the preliminary draft budget for 2022 and is due to meet next week in Baabda to approve it. Several points of the budget have given rise to dispute, such as new taxes that will weigh heavily on the Lebanese, more than three-quarters of whom according to UN figures now live below the poverty line.
• To go into effect, the budget requires cabinet approval and then Parliament's approval.
• In its statement, Hezbollah also praised the Internal Security Forces’ dismantling of 17 spy networks that were allegedly working for Israel. A judicial source told AFP on Monday that 21 people have been arrested in connection with this operation. According to the source, the individuals “were responsible for collecting information on military and security sites affiliated with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa.”