One challenge after the other, this is what the Lebanese daily lives look like as the country is going through a severe economic crisis and political instability. The country is going through its worst economic crisis ever, classified by the World Bank as one of the worst crises in modern times. The middle class almost vanished and the country is poorer than ever, people cannot afford basic needs as the currency lost around 95% of its value in comparison to the US dollar. Adding to that, the long electricity blackouts, medicine shortages, queues over bread and fuel, education becoming for privileged ones, and the failure of the banking system where depositors’ only resort was to attack local banks to take their own money by force. The situation was exacerbated by the Beirut Port explosion on August 4, 2020, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history according to the relief web, which destroyed most of Beirut city and the silos in the port, in addition to the pandemic economic shutdown, and the current war on Ukraine a country from where Lebanon imported most of its wheat.
With all of this depression and pessimism, the Lebanese were patiently waiting for the 2022 parliamentary elections as it was their only resort for change and hope for a slightly brighter future in a country where a better tomorrow is hardly imaged, especially since the election was the first one to take place after the 2019 uprisings.
When talking about Lebanon politically it is said that it is the only democracy in the Middle East, but is it? More likely, the country holds a power-sharing system as a result of the Al-Taif agreement that ended 15 years of civil war. It ensures the representation of all religions and sects, each one wanting a representation at the political decision-making table. The corruption of the various traditional political parties that hold a sectarian spirit is not a secret, and that was widely seen in the recent election where parties tried to buy votes taking to their advantage the financial crisis, bringing fake ballot boxes from outside the country, and their attempts of intimidation for those who do not align. One notable change in the electoral race was the absence of the largest Sunni political party, The Future Movement, and its head and former Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri’s resignation from political life, he and his party were much influential in the country’s balance of power. The public was hoping for a domino effect, hoping that those who dominated political life for decades would resign as well but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. In fact, Saad Al-Hariri called out his loyal supporters to boycott the elections on his Twitter account, thus, triggering a concern of little Sunni representation in the parliament, but that wasn’t the case as people were determined to vote and reformists filled in the vacuum Hariri left.
On the bright side
On the brighter side, some important changes took place such as the number of opposition seats won in the parliament brought some fresh air to the politics of the country where 13 reformist MPs entered the parliament with the values of the 2019 uprisings and civil society. A portion of hope was the victory of Firas Hamdan the new MP for Hasbaya a town in the south of Lebanon, a region dominated by Hezbollah’s influence; he was shot during a demonstration by the parliamentary police and now he is a member of that parliament. In addition to the loss of some political figures who occupied politics for decades such as Elie-El Ferzli and Talal Arslan.
Now the big question is what’s next for Lebanon? It has been almost five months since the elections, there is no government, and without the government, no vital reforms can be implemented and no deal with the International Monetary Fund can be done. Additionally, President Michel Aoun’s mandate is about to terminate, and questions like who will succeed Aoun erupt and will there be a parliamentary consensus to appoint a new president among divided MPs? Hence, there might be an upcoming episode of political paralysis in the country. Everything is set on hold while living conditions are unbearable, people are dreaming of fleeing the country and even are taking dangerous sea journeys just to seek a better life abroad. A recent report by Gallup showed that a record 63% of people want to leave for good and others expressed a view that it had become very difficult to cope with all that’s happening. With that being said, is there still hope of resurfacing a country that has been driven into the abyss?
