New Lebanese Government Should First Tackle Country's Economic Crisis - Lawmaker

BEIRUT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2020) The newly-formed Lebanese cabinet, which could face opposition in the country's parliament, should tackle the country's ongoing economic crisis with the utmost priority, after the presidency announced the formation of a new government, a leftist lawmaker told Sputnik.

On Tuesday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun announced the formation of a new government, headed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab. Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) lawmaker Bilal Abdallah told Sputnik that this new government must prioritize finding a solution to the country's economic difficulties.

"The new government must revive the economy. People are suffering from the depreciation of the Lebanese Currency. People have lost almost half their purchasing power. The salaries remain the same in the public sector. And in the private sector, half of the people are on the street and the other half receives just half of their salaries," Abdallah said.

The PSP, holding 9 seats in Lebanon's 128-seat parliament, will oppose the government in an upcoming confidence vote, the lawmaker added.

"We will go into the opposition, and we will not support a vote of confidence. We did not even discuss the formation of the government with him [Prime Minister Diab]," Abdallah remarked.

Lebanon's economy has ground to a halt in recent months, and government tax hikes on internet calls and tobacco triggered violent protests that eventually forced then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign.

Abdallah said that in this context, the international community needs to come to Lebanon's help.

"Of course, we need international help, from Arab countries, or from anywhere. However, help does not just appear. It is itself a political process. However, it is necessary, at least in the first stage," the PSP lawmaker stated.

After Hariri's government resigned in October, President Aoun appointed Hassan Diab, a 60-year-old professor at the American University of Beirut, as the new prime minister and tasked him with forming a new cabinet. Diab's nomination at the end of last year was met with new protests, with some of the major political parties refusing to be part of the new government.