BEIRUT: A parliamentary debate over Lebanon’s 2024 budget broke into a scuffle on Wednesday, with MPs accusing the government of “starving the people” and promoting corruption.
After the government’s original proposal was significantly revised by the Finance and Budget Committee, the General Assembly began discussions on the budget.
The opening session, broadcast live and attended by members of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s caretaker government, was marked by heated debate.
About 40 of the 128 members of Congress asked to speak, revealing deep divisions in Congress.
An altercation broke out between reformist lawmaker Melhem Khalaf and parliamentary speaker Navi Berri. Mr. Khalaf opposed the passing of the bill in the absence of the president, which has affected Lebanon for more than 15 months, and called for the plenary session to become a presidential election debate.
The lawmaker rushed out of the venue, warning that the act would not violate the constitution.
There was another altercation between MP Ali Hassan Khalil (Amal Movement) and reformist MP Firas Hamdan. Mr. Khalil described Mr. Hamdan as “insignificant” and labeled the pro-reform parliamentary group a “mafia group.”
In response, pro-reform lawmaker Paula Yacoubian accused Khalil of being a hypocrite, saying, “You’re wanted for the port explosion and you’re talking about the mafia.”
Ibrahim Kanaan, member of the Finance and Budget Committee, said the budget “lacks economic and social vision, is inadequately allocated to capital expenditures, and is subject to random introduction and partial allocation of taxes and fees.” It is a characteristic.”
He added: “The Finance Committee rejected articles regarding tax reform and the introduction of new taxes and fees on the grounds that they were unconstitutional.”
Mr. Kanaan said: “The lack of vision is consistent with the lack of uniformity of standards in the existing rate amendment proposals.
“Some things like transport fees have gone up 10 times, some things like stamp duty have gone up 40 times, and some things like the price of locally produced alcoholic drinks have gone up 180 times. There is also.
“The Finance Committee removed Article 10, which allowed interest on development loans to be covered, after the extent of preferential treatment in the loan allocation process became clear. Only the Governor of the Bank of Lebanon reported on this matter. There is a lack of knowledge about who is eligible for subsidies and the details.
“If we had not discussed this budget, we would have gone back to the 2022 budget,” said Elias Bou Saab, deputy speaker of the Lebanese parliament.
“The budget prepared by the transitional government is based on taxes, and revenues are hidden in projects, allowing waste and corruption,” a finance source told Arab News.
The official added: “State spending amounts to $2 billion a year, most of which is salaries for state employees, the military, and public services. Therefore, these costs can be covered by the revenue from facilities such as ports, for example.”
Congressman George Adwan, chairman of the Parliamentary Administration and Judiciary Committee, warned during the debate that the budget failed to “settle the bill” and “failed to close the accounts within the specified deadline.”
Adwan highlighted the “lack of accountability, the burden of Syrian exile in Lebanon, the non-independence of the judiciary and the crisis of judges not being questioned in the file of the former Lebanese Bank governor.” Riad Salameh. ”
He warned that the draft would result in “67% of taxes going to the general public, with only a small impact on the wealthy”.
Congressman Jamil Al Said said: “This budget seeks to take money out of people’s pockets, but we are dead bodies on the side of the road and the country is a dead body on the road to collapse.”
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah used the debate to draw attention to the violence on Lebanon’s southern border.
He said: “Israel was preparing a pre-emptive strike on Lebanon before the Al-Aqsa flood.According to ministerial statements from successive governments, Hezbollah is committed to the right of self-defense and the right of the Lebanese people to resist occupation.” ing.”
Opposition lawmaker Michel Moawad described the budget as a project that “starves the population and attacks the legitimate private sector in favor of smuggling advocates.”
He said the document was a “budget to defeat civil servants and state institutions in favor of clientelism.”
In response to Fadlallah’s statement regarding the South, Mr. Moawad said: “The war could turn into a comprehensive war at any time. Then all of Lebanon would be destroyed and the Lebanese people would not be able to decide their own fate.”
In September, the interim government approved the 2024 budget. Prime Minister Najib Mikati said at the time: “This is the first budget since 2002 that has been approved on time and in accordance with the constitution.”
Since 2019, Lebanon has witnessed an economic collapse that the World Bank classifies as “one of the worst in the world,” with the local currency devalued by about 95%.
