Lebanon's banks are on strike today and tomorrow in response to the mounting legal pressure on their sector. (Credit: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)
Banks will be closed today and tomorrow in what the industry’s association has called a “warning strike” in response to increasing legal pressure on the bankrupt financial sector. The strike comes on heels of moves by Judge Ghada Aoun on March 14 and 17 to freeze the assets of six banks and their board members while she investigates their transactions with the central bank. She also issued travel bans against the heads of the six boards of directors. At the same time Judge Mariana Anani froze the assets of Fransabank on March 16, and Judge Bassem Nasr froze those of Blom Bank’s Tripoli branches on March 18. Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who has championed the independence of the judiciary in the context of Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation into the Beirut port explosion accused “some judges” of “igniting tensions … for the sake of election campaigns,” calling on judicial authorities to “correct these actions.” In announcing their strike, the banks’ association lashed out against the “arbitrary decisions” they say are being imposed on them, the continued absence of a capital control law more than two years into the crisis, the lack of an economic recovery plan, and the central bank’s recent policy of tightening lira liquidity. The cabinet met on Saturday in an extraordinary session to plan the contours of its intervention into the matter, while maintaining that it was not acting to “protect any sector,” according to comments made by Mikati after the meeting. The justice minister has been tasked with “following up” on the alleged shortcomings of the judicial process.
A number of gas stations are likely to be closed today due to a lack of fuel ahead of a strike by fuel distributors. Local TV channel MTV quoted Fadi Abou Chakra, spokesperson for the fuel distributors, as saying on Sunday that “several stations will not be able to deliver fuel” today ahead of even more widespread disruption in the fuel supply tomorrow. Last week, tanker owners and fuel distributors announced a strike to take place on Tuesday along with a rally in front of the Energy Ministry headquarters. The strike is reportedly in response to a demand by the ministry’s Petroleum Directorate that the tanks on these vehicles be standardized for safety reasons, which members of the industry said creates unsustainable additional costs. George Brax of the gas station owners’ syndicate defended the sector against criticism, telling our correspondent Hoda Chedid, “It is up to state officials to give the stations, tanks, import and distribution companies the rights that are due to them, so that citizens can have access to fuel. We can no longer bear the losses. Neither the stations, nor the tanks, nor the companies want to close and stop work.” As always, it is the average citizen who pays the biggest price. Panic buying of fuel was witnessed yesterday and may continue today.
Lebanon’s diplomats abroad are reportedly weighing an open-ended strike today, following the completion of a two-day strike last Thursday and Friday. Observers have expressed concern that an open-ended strike at this stage in the election cycle could jeopardize the smooth administration of the May vote in Lebanon’s embassies and consulates overseas. More than 225,000 people registered to vote outside the country. The strike is being contemplated as a response to the Foreign Ministry’s delay in carrying out diplomatic transfers and rotations.
Parliament’s Finance and Budget Committee is meeting today at 9:30 a.m. to study the budget of the energy and finance ministries. In other energy news, Energy Minister Walid Fayad met with his Qatari counterpart yesterday, where the two discussed the possibility of a new gas import tender for Lebanon. Tomorrow the parliamentary budget committee will hold another session at the same hour, to study the Interior Ministry budget. The committee has been meeting for three weeks to examine the budget, which committee chair Ibrahim Kanaan (Free Patriotic Movement/Metn) has said “will not be adopted” if it remains in its current form. The constitutional deadline to adopt a 2022 budget expired at the end of January.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read article from over the weekend: “Holding out hope: After presiding over Lebanon's collapse, incumbents signed up en masse to run for re-election”