Mikati at climate conference, cholera vaccine donations, depositors’ rights lawyer on hunger strike: Everything you need to know to start your Tuesday

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Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati received assurances of international support for Lebanon during a series of meetings at the COP27 UN conference on combating climate change, being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The Egyptian government pledged “1,705 tons of vaccines and medical aid” to help curb the spread of cholera in Lebanon. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, as quoted by Mikati’s office, meanwhile urged the Lebanese government to “accelerate” the implementation of agency-stipulated reforms to unlock a multibillion dollar assistance package. In a press conference last week, US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea claimed that the implementation of reforms — not only to unlock billions in assistance funds but also to bankroll a stalled electricity intervention plan to import gas from Egypt and electricity from Jordan — is possible if politicians employ “the same spirit” which led to the successful delineation of the southern maritime border. International figures congratulating Lebanon on the border delineation have in recent days tempered their praise, emphasizing that oil exploration following the agreement is not a substitute for structural change.

UNHCR has provided Lebanon with 600,000 cholera vaccines, set to arrive next Wednesday, caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad said yesterday, adding that “1.5 million additional vaccines” are expected “within weeks or less.” Abiad announced a canvassing-based vaccination plan in Akkar and the Bekaa Valley where front-line workers will survey homes in “areas with the largest proportion” of infections and offer the vaccine to eligible “Lebanese and displaced people.” Since Lebanon recorded its first cholera case in almost 30 years on Oct. 5, the illness has killed 18 people, with infections rising to 448 as of yesterday. Currently, 93 beds are occupied in the country's hospitals to treat patients suffering from the illness, or those suspected to have cholera.

Parliament will convene weekly for presidential election sessions until a successor to Michel Aoun is chosen, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said yesterday, warning that the country’s compounding political crises cannot endure. Berri’s prognosis gave Lebanon “a few weeks” under current circumstances. US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea last week expressed similar fears over a repeat of the “two and a half year” presidential vacancy which preceded Aoun’s term. This time, however, in addition to a presidential vacuum Lebanon finds itself without a fully empowered cabinet. The extended vacuum six years ago was the result of repeated MP boycotts of Parliament’s presidential election sessions. While only one of the four election sessions held so far this time round has failed to reach quorum, the majority of Parliament cast protest votes during all four attempts. Berri last week canceled a call for dialogue between parliamentary blocs “to find a consensus around the presidential election” after facing opposition from Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces MPs. Pope Francis on Sunday appeared to urge for consensus, calling on politicians to “put aside [their] personal interests, look at the country and agree.”

Rami Ollaik, the lawyer who founded depositors’ rights group Mouttahidoun (United), is observing a hunger strike while in custody for allegedly abetting a holdup at a Hazmieh branch of Crédit Libanais last Wednesday, a spokesperson for a similar rights group, The Depositors' Cry, told L'Orient Today yesterday. Security forces arrested two depositors and two of their accomplices, one of whom is Ollaik, after overnight negotiations following the withdrawal at gunpoint of part of their deposit at the bank. The spokesperson expected they would be released this week owing to sympathy from magistrates expressing “solidarity with their case.” Judges summarily released other holdup perpetrators, often on a minor bail and a travel ban. Both The Depositors' Cry and Mouttahidoun on Sunday protested the arrests of Wednesday’s holdup perpetrators, who were taken into custody after forcibly retrieving part of their own funds from theCrédit Libanais branch. According to the National News Agency, the protesters moved from Downtown Beirut to various politicians’ houses and the residence of Crédit Libanais’ chairman.

The US Embassy in Lebanon vied to “more efficiently process renewals of business and tourist visas for qualified and eligible Lebanese citizens” through the expansion of interview waiver eligibility. “Lebanese citizens of ages 50 and older and whose B1/B2 [tourist and business] visas have expired within the last 24 months may qualify for [an] Interview Waiver” when applying for entry into the United States, the embassy announced in a statement. Saudi Arabia similarly reduced restrictions for select Lebanese citizens recently, granting visas on arrival to Schengen recipients with demonstrable means to make international payments. Earlier this year, Lebanon issued a similar diplomatic bridge to Iraqi citizens, waiving visa requirements for touristic visits. Lebanese travelers earlier this year reported increasingly stringent visa application procedures. However, some citizens wishing to travel may not get to the visa application stage as Lebanon continues to face a passport crisis trapping citizens on endless waiting lists. While General Security announced improvements in the passport request backlog for October, the month came and went without any diplomatic document windfalls.

In case you missed it, here's our must-read story from yesterday: “Is life in Lebanon still cheaper than before the crisis for those who have ‘fresh dollars’?”

Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz