Tax hikes: Are parties leaning into populist rhetoric at Salam’s expense?

Since the Salam government decided on Feb. 16 to increase the fuel tax and raise VAT by a percentage point, criticism has continued unabated. These unpopular measures, approved as fiscal steps to finance increases in public sector employees’ salaries and retired military personnel’s pensions, have fueled politically charged — and at times populist — rhetoric driven by electoral calculations, even by parties represented in Cabinet.Such a broad wave of backlash, which had already begun when the budget was adopted in Parliament with only 59 votes out of 128, could only further weaken the government, adding growing pressure on Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. The details Government plans VAT and tax hikes to fund public sector pay raises During a visit to Zahleh on Saturday, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader and MP Gebran Bassil took aim...