Once upon a time in Lebanon (1)

The majority of Lebanese citizens are living in difficult conditions that have turned their lives into an unbearable hell. They yearn for the past and their sorrow grows bigger when comparing those days to the situation nowadays. In fact, the crises afflicting the country date back to the early nineties when we, the Lebanese people, decided not to discuss the causes of the civil war nor to engage in a process of true forgiveness and reconciliation but to consider that we can easily turn our devastated country into a “Hong Kong”. Instead of planning to build a civil state in Lebanon, we decided to maintain a regime that produces nothing other than what we witness today. And so comes the high prices, the monopoly and the economic and financial meltdown as a natural outcome that everyone acknowledges but remains passive.

Although prior to the Taëf Agreement, Lebanon was not as splendid as some believe, there was at certain points a sense of responsibility that is lacking today. For instance, upon the outbreak of June 1967 war, the officials did not only implement the capital control policy but also took proactive actions and passed Law No. 41/67 to issue anti-monopoly decrees. The Law stipulates that “for this purpose, penalties, confiscations and other precautionary and injunctive measures shall be imposed, the expedited trial proceedings shall be adopted, and the necessary competent bodies shall be appointed.” (The text of the law is enclosed herein).