For Once, Lebanese Deserve This Chance By Jihad El-Hokayem Annahar, November 16, 2019

 

For once, Lebanese deserve this chance

In order to solve the current economic crisis, it is crucial to form a transitional government made up of entirely new ministers who are independent and credible visionaries .with clean records

Amid the nearly total absence of trust between the people and the authorities on one hand, and between the authorities and the international community on the other, which comes at the peak of an economic crisis, solutions to this lack of trust have become the ultimate objective.

Despite the fact that the technical solutions are known in all fields, especially on the economic fronts, authorities have failed to implement them, resulting in unprecedented unemployment rates among the youth, in addition to major deficiencies in the Lebanese’ basic rights.

In order to solve the current economic crisis, it is crucial to form a transitional government made up of entirely new ministers who are independent and credible visionaries with clean records. These ministers will gain the trust of not only the Lebanese people but also the international community and the world markets, which is a major step towards solving the current economic crisis.

This happens after they improve the framework and conditions of labor through implementing laws, working on the independence of the judiciary system to increase trust, fighting corruption, adopting e-government systems and proactive laws to promote competition for the benefit of the consumer and to prevent monopoly.

Furthermore, they must also work on increasing internet speed and decreasing telecommunication costs, proceed with privatization in a transparent manner, improve the quality of overall infrastructure, public transport and others.

It is also important to mention their role in adding the necessary fiscal stimulus to encourage the productive sectors, eliminate the rentier economy and other discordant factors, and increase the value of insurance on bank deposits. This will most definitely help regain trust, attract foreign direct investments from expatriates and other communities, create job opportunities, and lift the Lebanese economy.

I must quote Mouchir Aoun, Professor of Philosophy at the Lebanese University, who says: “The Lebanese people have tried all sorts of governments, but have yet to experience a government purely formed of men and women who are not affiliated to any party in power or opposition party, who do not practice politics in its Lebanese exploitive sense, and who do not take instructions unless it was aligned with their moral conscious, their scientific criteria, and their purely Lebanese patriotic belonging. Don’t the Lebanese people deserve to have such a gift, for once?”

When someone advances to take on the responsibility of the public, the principle of equal opportunities must be abided by at all costs.

Unfortunately, how can such a principle prevail when young qualified men and women stand as candidates in parliamentary elections facing many of those who have been in power for several years and who have exploited the State’s organs, its capacities, its influence on hiring through “nepotism,” providing services illegally to hundreds of thousands of citizens. Need I add the corruption, the bribes, the misuse of campaign money, and the bypass of the supervisory and judicial authorities?

We are aware that not all deputies and ministers commit these infringements, but with the absence of accountability and independence, and amid those in power exchanging blameful statements, it is necessary, for once, to forbid the ministers and deputies who have been in power for the last decade, their relatives, and those who benefited from their influence, to run for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Yes, for once, the Lebanese people deserve this chance.

https://en.annahar.com/article/1068946-for-once-lebanese-deserve-this-chance  

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