In the corridors of the fall meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, negative atmospheres and information are leaking regarding the efforts and attempts made by the Lebanese delegation to these meetings, as restoring external confidence in Lebanon remains an almost impossible task today. This is due to multiple reasons that have emerged since the catastrophic decision made by Hassan Diab’s government in 2020, which led to a dramatic financial and banking collapse, the fall of the Lebanese pound, and the evaporation of Lebanese deposits.
According to sources accompanying the economic landscape, the Lebanese authorities are struggling with financial crises resulting from the blatant mismanagement that prevailed during the presidency of former President Michel Aoun. His political bloc, in cooperation with the Shiite duo, implemented a form of tyranny, chaos, and populism in making fateful decisions that resulted in the worst financial collapse in modern times. They then worked to shift the blame for this series of errors, if not crimes against the Lebanese people, onto a single person: the former governor of Lebanon’s Central Bank, Riad Salameh.
At this point, it cannot be overlooked that this behavior continues today by these parties, as exploiting crises has become a common approach for the "Free Patriotic Movement". Populist slogans remain the cornerstone of the Movement’s officials’ campaigns in any election or at any internal station or turning point, as if the Lebanese people have no memory or have forgotten the calamities they faced during an era when the "Movement" held the reins of power and made the very decisions for which they now blame others and the resulting consequences.
Among the misleading campaigns characterized solely by lies are the headlines regarding the recovery of funds and accountability for the financial collapse of 2019, which dominate the political discourse now focused on economic and financial aspects due to the emptiness, the void, and the crisis of popular trust in their propositions.
Accordingly, economic sources reveal that the performance of the Movement and its allies is responsible for the loss of Lebanese deposits. Citizens have come to understand that the reason for the financial collapse, the bankruptcy of banks, and the collapse of the national currency was the decision to refrain from paying Lebanese debt bonds, followed by the squandering and theft of depositors’ money when they were in positions of responsibility, through spending on failed projects aimed solely at achieving their personal and private benefits.
It is important today, as the "Movement" prepares to start election campaigns and nominate symbols that played a role in distorting the facts before local and international public opinion, to clarify that the fundamental idea, which is closer to the truth in this regard, is that the political authority formed in that era preceding the 2019 collapse was composed of three active parties that constituted the forces of reality: the "Movement", and the Shiite duo of "Amal" and "Hezbollah". Through Hassan Diab’s government, they made the catastrophic decision that caused depositors to lose $20 billion, as well as the collapse of Lebanese banks and, of course, the national currency.
It must also be emphasized that the question which must be posed to these parties concerns the responsibility for the decisions made by the aforementioned "trio" regarding the failure to pay interest on debt, and the persistence of Diab’s government, controlled by the head of the Movement, Gebran Bassil, along with the Shiite duo, in making decisions that wiped out what remained of liquidity in the central bank through a support policy tailored to their personal interests. To this day, they still refuse to take responsibility for this decision and remain silent when questioned about this matter, while the facts contradict all their claims.