Lebanese economist Nadim Shehadi claims that Hezbollah’s veto power has made Lebanon “a hostage”
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Alaina
- . February 20, 2023
- . Update: February 21, 2023 1:35 am
In Beirut, a suicide truck bomber assassinated Rafik Hariri, a well-known politician and former prime minister of Lebanon, on this month’s anniversary. Before entering politics, Hariri was a philanthropist who had made his fortune in the construction industry. He gave millions of dollars to Lebanese victims of war and strife, and later played a significant role in bringing an end to the civil war and reconstructing the capital city.
The assassination of Hariri signalled the start of a profound political shift and struggles for democracy in Lebanon. Politicians and notable individuals who opposed Syria’s and Hezbollah’s influence in the nation were targeted for years after his murder.
Hezbollah has simply reinforced its hold on Lebanon, keeping the country in a desperate situation, despite an international tribunal finding its members guilty of Hariri’s murder following fervent calls for an investigation into his death.
Lebanese economist Nadim Shehadi claimed on “Frankly Speaking,” the Arab News current affairs talk show that features prominent policymakers and business executives, that “Hariri was slain 18 years ago and it took roughly 15 years to demolish the entire country after everything he tried to construct.”
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“The Independent International Investigation Commission and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon visited Lebanon, and it took them around 15 years to produce their findings. And for the first time in Lebanon’s history—a country with a long history of assassinations—we had a conviction, Shehadi said.
Hezbollah’s dominance over Lebanon, however, means that the true assassins will go unpunished and the group would continue to keep the country captive, in his opinion, regardless of a conviction in Hariri’s case.
The myriad political and economic difficulties in Lebanon have only become worse in recent years, with inflation in the nation reaching record levels in 2021 and the value of the Lebanese lira falling sharply.
A number of armed customers held up banks last year while trying to get their locked deposits out. Two-thirds of the people now live in poverty in a nation whose capital was once known as the “Paris of the East,” and regular electrical blackouts and shortages of essentials like water and medicine are becoming more commonplace.
