“Another day of confusion around the formation of a government, amidst the increasingly angry protests and free-falling economy,” Jan Kubis, United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, wrote on Twitter. “Politicians, don’t blame the people, blame yourselves for this dangerous chaos.”
Kubis further appeared to give credit to the Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, saying he had sought “extraordinary powers to at least somehow manage the economy while those responsible watch it collapsing.” He went on to call this effort: Incredible.
The UN Official has condemned the outburst of protests and the paralysis of Lebanon’s political elite since the beginning of Lebanon’s revolution in October 2019.
He now rebuked the ruling elite that has failed to draw up a firm rescue plan for Lebanon amid being hit by a new wave of violent and escalating protests.
With banks still maintaining limits on access to cash, they were targeted overnight by demonstrators in Hamra, while other banks’ signs, glass windows, and ATMs were smashed in violent outbursts that hurt both civilians and security forces.
As Arab News reports, security forces “fired tear gas outside the central bank to disperse protesters who pelted them with stones and fireworks.”
One man tossed a car battery at the glass facade of a bank as another hit it with a metal pole. Others wrenched traffic lights and parking meters from the ground.
As political rivalries continue to obstruct a deal on the formation of Lebanon’s new government, the crisis seems to only be hitting “ordinary people.”
The Lebanese pound currently stands at close to nothing, as it stands to lose around half of its value permanently.
As previously reported, Salameh has asked for additional powers, stating he wanted to “standardize banking controls”.
After the request had been made formally to the Lebanese Ministry of Finance, the ministry has since asked him to specify exactly what those “extra powers” were. So maybe things are headed in the right direction.
