Is it time for the Lebanese political leaders to fall?

The investigation with Salameh opens the door to search for the fortunes of senior politicians.

Everything is stardom in Lebanon

Beirut - The investigation conducted by European countries regarding the properties of the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, brings hope to a wide spectrum of Lebanese that it may be a serious entrance for the world to know the truth about the political elite and its allies who have affected the crises in Lebanon.

Lebanese political circles said that Germany's entry on the line of Salameh's wealth and requesting information regarding his financial situation is a clear message from the countries concerned with the Lebanese file that they will not remain silent in the future about what is happening of corruption and that they will follow up on all the wealth of senior politicians so that they know who they will deal with and who can be entrusted with money Donors and loans that the international financial institutions may receive and prevent their squandering in favor of corruption networks sponsored and covered by well-known parties.

The political circles indicated that the charges surrounding Salameh, which the Lebanese judiciary did not act on, show that Lebanon needs, before talking about elections or reforms of any kind, to dismantle the corruption networks in which the political, the economic, and the sectarian intersect, and that the Lebanese They know many details about her and her files are present and complete, but no one comes close to her.

These circles stressed that the solution lies in the international judiciary in order to open the files of senior politicians and well-known parties, including Hezbollah, but they warn that countries concerned with Lebanon, including the United States and France, deal smoothly with a political class that rejects change and disrupts reforms.

On Tuesday, sources said that Lebanon had received a letter from Germany requesting information regarding the financial conditions of the Governor of the Banque du Liban.

Germany is the fourth European country to seek such information from Beirut.

Last week, Lebanon received letters from the French and Luxembourg authorities requesting information related to the accounts and banking assets of the Governor of the Banque du Liban, who has held the position for nearly three decades.

The Swiss attorney general's office said last year that it had requested legal assistance from Lebanon in the context of an investigation into "extensive money laundering operations". Among the cases being studied by Swiss authorities are commissions paid to Salameh's brother over a period of 10 years, including more than $300 million.

The Lebanese judicial authorities also opened an investigation into the matter. But Salameh still enjoys tangible political support in Lebanon.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in December that Salameh should remain in his position for now, adding that “the commander does not change his officers during the war,” referring to the financial crisis in Lebanon.

It can be said that Salama knows the secrets of the business and political elites. As with the investigation into the Beirut explosion, which has now been completely halted due to the head of the court receiving a threat from Hezbollah, most Lebanese do not expect much from the investigation of Judge Ghada Aoun, who was entrusted with Salameh's file.

Lebanese analysts and observers believe that opening the file of Salameh in the international judiciary puts the political class under the microscope, and may push it to retreat, and give Lebanon a space of hope for change, especially as the world during the past years seemed convinced that it did not accept any reform despite the pressures exerted on it. It is useful with threatening punishments and temptations.

The Lebanese are betting on the upcoming elections, which may provide a rare opportunity to weaken this political class. Confusion has emerged over the tripartite alliance between Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, and the Free Patriotic Movement, which are the parties that control parliament and control the government, especially the Free Patriotic Movement, whose results are expected to be disappointing. In a Christian incubator, the general mood is closer to the opposition.

The November 2019 protests showed that the political class does not have any popular depth and that it controls the political scene with sectarian alliances, corrupt money and external support. Those protests succeeded in bringing down the government of Saad Hariri.

Independent candidate Paula Yacoubian told L'Orient Today, "We must enter Parliament as a movement to confuse the existing regime, with the aim of changing the way things are going in Lebanese politics and preventing the establishment's politicians from hiding behind their usual sectarian slogans instead of presenting actual policies to the people."

With the approach of the parliamentary elections next May, efforts are being made within the opposition parties and by independent candidates to present a united front in order to weaken the parties' rule. And it remains possible, if external pressures increase, especially from the International Monetary Fund, to impose reforms and show politicians the position of an opponent who thinks about his interests and hinders Lebanon's mission to get out of the suffocating crisis.

IMF support is seen as the key to getting Lebanon out of its economic quagmire. Fund support would bring in other donors, including the World Bank and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. One of the conditions, however, is a deep review of the central bank.

The non-governmental organization "Kuluna Irada", a Lebanese political reform group, sent an open letter in January to the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, stating, "The Lebanese are suffering from a social and economic catastrophe of almost unprecedented global magnitude and gravity. We blame the ruling class made up of a militia-backed coalition of sectarian leaders with complicit leadership in the financial sector. The IMF’s responsibility is not to condone this crime.”

The letter urges the IMF to secure commitments, among other things, to banking sector reform, an adequate governance structure, debt restructuring, protection of small depositors and pensions, and new leadership at the Banque du Liban.