Opinion / Leila Molana-Allen
Into the void
In May 2022, Lebanon’s citizens went to the polls without much faith. They did, however, have the faint hope that casting their votes might finally bring some change to the failed state. Twelve fresh independent MPs were elected, people who seemed to have the skills and experience in areas such as finance, law and environmental science to turn the country around. Ten per cent of parliamentary seats went to these Change MPs – a small crop but not an insignificant one. Yet, since the election, all parliament has done is disappoint.
For Lebanon, last week marked a full year without a government. The country’s prime minister-designate, Najib Mikati, has been unable to form a cabinet that the warring parties will agree upon. His caretaker government, which is operating in the interim, does not have the authority to institute any of the desperately needed reforms. Now the political brawling has extended to the post of president, which has been vacant since November, meaning that Lebanon has existed in a power vacuum for seven full months.
While politicians bicker, things are only getting worse outside the walls of parliament. The currency has lost more than 98 per cent of its value, pensions are worth next to nothing, medical costs are soaring and daily food bills are becoming unmanageable. Lebanon might soon be grey-listed by international financial institutions, making things even harder for businesses that are struggling to keep their doors open.
Lebanese people have been reduced to asking for so little: not even a good and honourable government but any government at all. Parliament must remember who it is there to serve and overcome petty squabbles to do its job, lest the country’s citizens lose what little faith in democracy that they have left and avoid the ballot box altogether next time.
Leila Molana-Allen is Monocle’s Beirut correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.