Explaining the criminal audit contract on the books of the Banque du Liban

Ten days after the interim Finance Minister, Ghazi Wazni, handed over to the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, the final version of the forensic financial audit agreement with Alvarez & Marsal, Wazni signed the contract yesterday. The formula signed by the Minister of Finance was different from what the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, expected, according to sources, after he asked Wazni to comply with the proposals of the Legislative and Consultative Commission: allow the Grupo Egmont is a member of the official Lebanese committee that will follow up on the supervision of “Álvarez”. On the extent to which the Special Investigation Commission adheres to the mandatory standards that regulate its work, and the participation of the Advisory Commission in its capacity as independent legal adviser to the State, in the committee that will monitor the work of the company. At that time, Wazni “expressed his response to President Aoun’s request, but indicated the assumption that Álvarez would not accept these amendments, indicating that he would abide by what the company accepts.” However, the contract, which amounts to $ 2,220,000, in its current form, will produce a preliminary report that will come without any content and without accountability due to Lebanese laws that restrict the work of the company, especially the laws of bank secrecy, cash and credit. The Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, began attacking him just before the start of the audit. According to the information, Salameh’s lawyers prepared a study that concluded that the Ministry of Finance is not authorized to sign on behalf of Banque du Liban, as it enjoys financial independence in accordance with article 13 of the Currency and Credit Law.

The foregoing paves the way for the president to refuse to respond to the requests of the Álvarez company, which is supposed to start its work immediately after the contract is signed, or within a maximum period of four or five days. The audit team (usually 16 people, but the permanent team dealing with the audit process consists of 9 people) must complete the initial criminal investigation report within ten weeks of the contract signing date. Sources close to President Aoun indicated that he was “displeased with the final wording of the contract that was signed yesterday.”

Financial sources: My peso is required to sign the contract without modification.

On the other hand, sources from the Ministry of Finance indicate that “my weight, especially during the interim period, is obliged to sign the contract in accordance with the Cabinet’s decision. The introduction of any modification requires a government decision. ‘ Sources believe that the Finance Minister is implementing a government decision and is authorized to sign, not amend.
Consequently, some wonder if this new event will lead to an obstruction in the formation of the government or a disagreement between Aoun and the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, about what happened. In this context, some hadiths emerged about the claim of the Free Patriotic Movement on the fiscal portfolio based on the principle of rotation, noting that the deputy in the Development and Liberation Bloc, Ayoub Hamid, had announced that the Amal Movement joined the Ministry Finance in the spirit of preserving the “third Shiite firm” before parliamentary consultations were held until. Some consider this to be a priority for the rotation of the Ministry of Finance. For their part, the sources of the Free Patriotic Movement denied their claim to any ministry, including the Finance Ministry, attributing these rumors to “a group of those affected by the French initiative, and they themselves had previously tried to overthrow the Pact and the House of Representatives. “. These sources added: “They include political and media forces, who do not like the role that President Aoun plays today as an interlocutor for the countries of the world and a pillar of the legitimacy of the State, so they deliberately spread lies to hinder the formation government and sabotage local and international consensus. ” As for the talk of the Free Patriotic Movement about rotation, it came “in a positive sense, which leads to breaking the exclusivity of all ministries and abandoning the prevailing norm to achieve real reforms. The claim of the demand for money from the current is a lie that is exposed when resolving the transfer of this bag to the Christian community and is part of the attempt to complete the failed coup. In all cases, the movement confirmed that it would facilitate the training process, whether it was represented in government or chose not to participate in it.
According to sources involved in the composition negotiations, the government will soon see the light, because the consultations that President-designate Mustafa Adib is carrying out with representatives of the main parliamentary blocs reveal the intention not to obstruct the formation, and that no party will opposes the existence of a mini government. Sources also indicate that the finance portfolio is resolved for a Shiite minister, “because this matter is resolved in the Taif Accord, similar to the doctrines of the three presidencies, which were agreed without a written text.” The sources pointed out that the decisive factor should not be handled by a party minister, nor by a minister subject to party dictates.

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