Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (right) and MP Yassin Yassin, in Ghazzeh, West Bekaa, on July 6, 2025. (Photo sent to L'Orient Today by residents)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Nawaf Salam toured the Bekaa on Sunday, meeting with local officials and MPs and acknowledging that the region, which is the agricultural heartland of the country, remains marginalized by development efforts and advocating for a better balances in said initiatives.
He also addressed ongoing Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon and the state's efforts to achieve a monopoly on arms, saying both issues must be resolved before Lebanon can find stability.
Ongoing economic reforms
Despite the short duration of his mandate, with legislative elections scheduled for May next year, Salam's government has launched several economic reforms — anticipated in particular by the international community — to unlock financial aid, including the law on financial deficit.
Addressing reporters during the Bekaa tour, Salam mentioned specifically Parliament's passing of the banking secrecy law, which allowed regulating bodies to request access to all banking information without needing to reveal the motivations for doing so, and applies retroactively for transactions made as far back as 10 years ago. This allows for significantly increased oversight of bankers who have been accused of helping Lebanon's elite transfer significant amounts of money abroad.
"Twenty, 50, or 60 years ago, banking secrecy was a blessing for Lebanon, allowing it to attract funds. Today, it has become a scourge," said Salam.
A bill on restructuring the banking sector is under review by the legislature, as well as the law on financial deficit, which will allow, among other things, "the return of deposits," stuck in the banks since 2019. "Without a healthy banking sector, there will be no investments in Lebanon: money doesn't come in suitcases, it goes through banks," he said.
Ending the 'marginalization' of the Bekaa
Salam advocated for ending the Bekaa's marginalization from the rest of the country's development projects. "This reality is unfortunately well established," he said, emphasizing the importance of "balanced development" across all regions.
"The Bekaa has not obtained all its rights and is today entitled to obtain them," he said. Lebanon "cannot recover if its economic recovery is not based on on balanced development." A plan to this end will be launched in the near future, Salam said.
Ghazzeh MP Yassin Yassin, a member of the Change Bloc, also addressed reporters alongside Salam, saying Salam's visit to the Bekaa brought "hope."
He laid out several challenges the Bekaa is facing, and the assistance it hopes to receive from the government concerning the agricultural and irrigation sector, local economy and industry, interest in rural tourism, and the rehabilitation of public infrastructure, whether it be roads, water management, or electricity supply.
The MP also called for "finding a solution to the crisis" of Syrian migrants and refugees by ensuring their safe return to their country and controlling illegal border posts.
No stability without respecting sovereignty
Salam presided over the inauguration of the Islamic Center in Central Bekaa, in Zahle district's Chtoura, alongside Grand Mufti Abdel Latif Derian.
During the ceremony, Salam said he believes the Bekaa could experience "a real boom," provided that the proposed projects are "planned outside of partisan interests."
He insisted that "the state cannot exist without sovereignty, which implies that decisions of war and peace, as well as the bearing of arms, are solely within its purview."
Reiterating that his government is currently busy implementing administrative, financial reforms, and strengthening judicial independence, he emphasized that these measures "will not be sufficient without stability, which requires complete Israeli withdrawal, respect for Lebanese sovereignty, ending the proliferation of arms, and building real social safety nets."
In Rashaya, the prime minister was welcomed by MP Wael Abou Faour, who stated that the reconstruction of the state "relies on the full implementation of the Taef Agreement, including expanded decentralization and balanced development."
Salam's Bekaa tour comes on the eve of U.S. envoy Tom Barrack's return to Beirut on Monday, where he is expected to receive the Lebanese government's official response to a plan drawn up by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as to how Lebanon should proceed in disarming Hezbollah and reviving its economy.