Iran Press/ Middle East: The big question is can the new government in Beirut satisfy the demands of the demonstrators who are unhappy about entrenched corruption and the fact that a small group of well-connected elites have enriched themselves for years. The protesters are also unhappy about the state of the economy, and a lack of jobs for young people.
The Lebanese economy has been in freefall in recent months, with a shortage of US dollars forcing Lebanese banks to impose capital controls on both American and local currency, preventing people from withdrawing more than a certain amount from their bank accounts every week.
The question everyone is asking is whether the new government of technocrats led by a relatively unknown, Hessan Diab, heeds the key demand of the demonstrators –fundamental governance reforms. Hessan Diab is a Lebanese engineer and academic who is currently serving as the Prime Minister of Lebanon since 21 January 2020. His only experience in government was a brief stint as education minister in 2011 during the government of former prime minister Najib Mikati.
The previous cabinet collapsed after the former prime minister Saad Hariri resigned in October, citing the mass anti-government protests which have turned increasingly violent in recent weeks.
One demand of the protesters is a smaller government with less expenditure and lower salaries for government ministers. A notable difference between the new government of technocrats led by Hessan Diab and the previous government led by Saad Hariri is that the new government is made up of 20 largely unknown technocrats whereas Hariri's government had 30 ministers. So with 10 fewer ministers, the government has been trimmed and expenditure has been reduced, just as the protesters were demanding.
Another demand of the protesters is that well-known faces and individuals who have been part of successive Lebanese governments for many years should step aside and let younger, new and unknown technocrats replace them. Hessan Diab's government is made up of 20 largely unknown technocrats, thus fulfilling another demand of the protesters.
Another difference between the new and the previous government is that there are 5 female ministers in the new government, and for the first time a woman has been appointed as Lebanon's defence minister and deputy prime minister.
A top priority for the new government is to end the violent protests that have engulfed the nation. Diab has listened to the protesters and has heeded their demands, at least as much as he could. He has respected the demands of the protesters. He has also declared that his top priority is to end the turmoil in the country and to realize the other demands of the protesters which have so far not been met.
The new government of Hessan Diab has inherited myriad problems from earlier governments, particularly the government of former prime minister Saad Hariri. The protests started on 17 October 2019 after the government attempted to impose a tax on WhatsApp, the messaging app that has become ubiquitous in Lebanon. The poor state of the economy, high unemployment, and the falling purchasing power of the Lebanese people were the real reasons for the start of the protests. Reductions in wages and pensions, tax raises, the falling value of the national currency, a shortage of the US dollars in the Lebanese economy, rich people taking their money out of Lebanon, a huge budget deficit, rampant corruption and fraud, and a huge foreign debt are just some of the economic woes faced by the new government. Overcoming these economic challenges is certainly a difficult task, which needs calm and stability in the country, patience by the Lebanese people who must understand that tackling these problems will take some time, and the government itself needs to adopt a sensible approach and get on with the task of economic reform and stimulating the economy.
The question is has the new prime minister Hessan Diab done enough, and will the violence in Lebanon die down and will Diab be given the chance to govern and tidy up the economic mess of his predecessors? The formation of a new cabinet is certainly a success for Hessan Diab and for President Michel Aoun, and it is also a success for all those political factions which have decided to cooperate and work hand-in-hand with the new government, including Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and the Resistance Coalition.
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Writer: Seyyed Reza Emadi
Translator: Mehran Derakhshandeh
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