Parliament to meet, student killed in Tripoli, another bank holdup : Everything you need to know to start your Thursday

Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up.

Parliament is scheduled to convene today to discuss a letter sent by Michel Aoun on the eve of his last day as president to House Speaker Nabih Berri calling for the caretaker government’s resignation. Aoun’s letter contains a series of criticisms of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who Aoun asked during his final presidential address to “recuse himself” following accusations that Mikati is purposely delaying government formation. Mikati, however, seemed unphased by the resignation request. Amid mounting pressure to fill the presidential vacuum, Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces MPs allegedly vetoed Berri’s call for dialogue to reach a consensus on the next president. The International Support Group for Lebanon urged a rapid election and criticized the “lack of cooperation among Lebanese political actors,” citing the country’s “dire economic, financial and humanitarian crises.” Parliament held four failed electoral sessions to name a successor to Aoun before his term ended Monday, leaving behind a caretaker government. Zgharta MP Michel Moawad, the only declared presidential candidate, opposed the idea of a consensus candidate. During the three electoral sessions that went to a vote, Moawad received 36, 44 and 39 votes, respectively. The remainder of MPs cast protest votes.

A ceiling collapsed in a public school in Jabal Mohsen, Tripoli, killing a 16-year-old student and injuring another. Students were evacuated from the school building while first responders transferred the victims to the city’s government hospital. Jabal Mohsen residents protested following the incident, demanding the implementation of preventive measures. A faculty member claimed renovation to one of the classrooms jeopardized the building’s structure. In June — following several injuries and the death of a child during a residential building collapse in Tripoli — Lebanese Real Estate Authority President Indira al-Zuhairi claimed that over 15,000 buildings across Lebanon “are on the verge of collapse” due to lack of maintenance or construction with “corrupted materials” in the absence of government supervision. Shortly after the tragedy in June, officials traded blame for failing to notify residents and supply funding for the reinforcement of buildings.

A second repatriation convoy anticipated to leave Lebanon today under the Syrian refugee mass return will not go ahead, a General Security spokesperson told L’Orient Today. The second convoy’s departure date was announced last week by caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar, after he found the first returns “encouraging.” Last Wednesday, Lebanese authorities repatriated “around 750” Syrian refugees from different areas in Lebanon, including Nabatieh, Tripoli and Arsal, a town in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim claimed the return plans are “in Lebanon’s best interests,” channeling authorities’ anti-refugee discourse that scapegoats the displaced for Lebanon’s local crises. International organizations have criticized the repatriation plans, deeming Syria unsafe for return and claiming Lebanon’s facilitation of the trips puts people at serious risk of “heinous abuse.”

Four people were arrested at dawn today after forcibly retrieving a portion of two of the group’s deposits during a holdup of a Hazmieh branch of Crédit Libanais. Two depositors and their two accomplices retrieved around a quarter of the depositors’ funds after intimidating the bank’s employees with a pistol and a bottle of gasoline — which reportedly spilled and, due to poor ventilation, endangered those present. On Monday, security forces foiled an attempted holdup at a Hamra branch of Byblos Bank, arresting a depositor during his attempt to forcibly recover his own funds. Lebanon witnessed a series of holdups over the past two months during which depositors, sometimes at gunpoint, attempted to bypass informal capital controls measures and withdraw funds from their own accounts. On Oct. 7, banks announced that they would remain closed until further notice after a weeklong strike and new security measures failed to deter holdups. ATMs are providing basic banking services, while some financial institutions welcome clients on appointment. Since late 2019, banks have imposed informal restrictions on depositors’ accounts, limiting their access to their own funds — particularly foreign currency deposits. The Association of Banks in Lebanon has attempted to shift the blame for the banking crisis onto the Lebanese state, which reportedly implemented restrictive policies and failed to tackle the economic collapse in a timely fashion. Commercial bank critics, however, allege that “greed” had more to do with it than policy.

In case you missed it, here's our must-read story from yesterday: “Amid the cholera outbreak, Lebanon’s municipalities shoulder the burden”

Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz