Nasrallah asks to give a chance to the new Lebanese government
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Roshan Amiri
- . February 17, 2020
- . Update: February 17, 2020 12:49 pm
Hezbollah secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, asked on Sunday to offer the new government a chance to work to prevent Lebanon from collapsing in light of the dangerous economic situation it has faced for months.
Lebanon has witnessed an accelerated economic collapse for months, with a lack of liquidity, an increase in the prices of basic materials and banks that have imposed strict measures on cash transactions and withdrawing the dollar. The country is also awaiting major benefits, primarily the payment of a portion of the public debt accumulated next month.
In a giant-screen speech, Nasrallah said the current government must have “a reasonable opportunity and a reasonable deadline to help prevent collapse, prevent the fall and prevent bankruptcy”. Hezbollah leader say that everybody should feel the responsibility to help the new Lebanese government, at least to allow it to operate.
On January 21, the new elected president Hassan Diab formed his government of twenty ministers, many of whom still unknown. According to AFP among the twenty ministers there are academics and specialists whom are supported by Hezbollah and his allies, boycotting the other parties included Future Movement led by the former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
Analysts believe the new government is only a front for a political team made up of Hezbollah and its allies, as protesters reject them, considering that it is not meeting the demands that have taken months to form a specialist and completely independent government from all political parties, which have asked for months for their exit from power. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives trusted the government, which set its priorities for tackling the economic crisis.
Nasrallah also believe that an impossible task is waiting the new government because the economic, financial and monetary situation is in a dangerous situation, stressing that “bankruptcy today is its consequences at national level and not the political forces that support the government”.
Nasrallah said: “We hope that work to succeed, we have given to the new Government trust and support and we will not abandon it”. He called not to classify it as a “Hezbollah government” because it “harms Lebanon, harms treatment skills and harms Lebanon’s Arab and international relations”.
Lebanon is witnessing an unprecedented economic crisis in its modern history. The public debt amounted to approximately $ 92 billion, equivalent to over 150 percent of GDP. The accelerated economic collapse coincides with the approach of the maturity of the Eurobonds worth 1.2 billion dollars, which raises controversy in Lebanon due to a split on the need to pay it on time on the ninth of March or of default.
On Wednesday, the Banking Association called for the need to pay Eurobond bonds in order to preserve investor confidence in Lebanon, in a move that analysts warned would worsen the situation and weaken currency reserves.
