Aoun blocks the road to Salama: it is forbidden to cancel support

The message that President Michel Aoun wanted to convey to the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, can be summarized as follows: “No to the cancellation of subsidies” for medicines, fuel, wheat and the food basket. To do this, they met yesterday at the Baabda Palace, and after the meeting a brief statement was issued stating that the President discussed with Salameh “the issue of supporting the basic and necessary materials and measures that lead to the continuation of this support in current circumstances. ” With regard to the President of the Republic, the situation does not allow the removal of support at present, because it will cause a social problem, according to the information. However, the meeting between Aoun and Salameh did not discuss the new mechanisms that will be adopted, and it has not been decided where the cost of the support will be financed, since the issue of reducing the percentage of “mandatory reserve” has not been resolved or not, with the reluctance of the members of the Central Council of the Banque du Liban, supported by bank owners and large depositors. For this option. The discussion between the President and the Governor of the Banque du Liban was maintained in the general framework, on the need to take measures to reduce the number of subsidized food and reduce the percentage of beneficiaries of fuel subsidies, so that the who are not eligible to benefit from it. In this context, general “ideas” about the direction of the subsidy began to circulate, so that its annual cost would reach the limits of 1.3 billion dollars, and cards (not resolved if they were inputs or financing) were distributed to more than 500 thousand families that had become impoverished. The problem is that the data required to implement the “subsidized card” and begin to work with it have not yet been prepared, and this matter may take months, given the absence of criteria from which the “poorest” are defined. and the lack of the number of employees necessary to accomplish the task. Early next week, there will be meetings between government agencies, economists and members of the Banque du Liban Central Council to try to agree on a new support mechanism, provided the matter is decided at Wednesday’s Central Council meeting.

Qasim: For the American to understand that the approval of the parliamentary blocs is a prerequisite for forming a government.

This “ambiguity” regarding the issue of support also applies to the government record, as long as Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri insists that he is a “hostage” … hostage to the red lines set by the states. States of America. In this context, Hezbollah Undersecretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said that Hariri’s maneuver “by naming whoever he wants and insufficient communication with some blocs, and the pressing US position on Lebanon in various ways, caused the delay in the formation of the government “. Qassem added in an interview with the channel “Al-Manar” that the solution is “the audacity to form a government and bring long distances closer … the luxury of time is not in anyone’s interest, and some are waiting for the new US president receive your duties so that the government is in harmony with the American guidelines “, considering that the most beneficial in these circumstances. That the interim government be invited “to permanent meetings to solve people’s problems in the absence of the new government, and that is what the constitution allows.” What about accusing Hezbollah of being a “problem” in not forming a government? Qassem responded that there was no problem with or from the “party”, since “the basis is an understanding between the two presidents to create it.” The best way to form a government is a dialogue between the president-designate and the representative blocs, so that the government gains confidence in the House of Representatives. The approval of the parliamentary blocs is a prerequisite for the formation of government, and that is what the American must understand. And he affirmed that al-Qaeda to solve our problem in Lebanon “is to defend ourselves and work first for the interests of Lebanon, and the Americans do not scare us.” Regarding the French initiative, Qassem explained that “its origin is economic and we agree with that in principle, but we never accept the harassment of this initiative”, reiterating the position of Hezbollah to reject “any conditional aid, and we accept the aid of the International Monetary Fund after discussing it because they told us in our country “.

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