DAILY NEWS
UN Special Rapporteur Concludes Lebanon Tour
This week UN Special Rapporteur on poverty and human rights is finishing up a twelve-day tour of Lebanon. During his visit Olivier De Schutter met with Lebanon officials, civil society leaders, and impoverished communities throughout the country. De Schutter concluded that though Lebanon is not a failed state, it is a failing state. He added that the “government’s inaction in the face of this unprecedented crisis has inflicted great misery on the population, especially children, women, stateless and undocumented individuals, and people with disabilities who were already marginalized.” [The National]
Kordahi Says No Resignation without ‘Guarantees’
Amid a diplomatic feud between Lebanon and Gulf countries, officials have called for Information Minister George Kordahi’s resignation. Kordahi said today he will not stop down unless he receives a guarantee that his resignation will resolve the crisis. Without giving any specifics, Kordahi says so far there have been “no guarantees.” Hezbollah said yesterday that Lebanon should not concede to Saudi Arabia and accused KSA of fabricating the crisis to undermine Lebanon. [AP]
Turkish Foreign Minister to Visit Lebanon
Next week Turkey’s foreign minister will visit Lebanon as a show of support for the Lebanese government. Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will meet with top Lebanese officials and extend an invite to Prime Minister Najib Miqati to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. [Naharnet]
Number of Lebanese Expats Registered to Vote Already Exceeds 2018 Numbers
November 20 is the deadline for Lebanese expatriates to register to vote in the 2022 parliamentary elections. Based on data released by the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of Lebanese expats who have registered to vote in 2022 already exceeds the number that voted in 2018. Since yesterday, there are 101,088 registrants recorded, compared to 2018’s 82,965 registrants. [The 961]
If you’re a Lebanese expat, register to vote here!
OPINION & ANALYSIS
The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies
Raising the Alarm: Pervasive Poverty and Vulnerability in Lebanon
Fadi Nicholas Nassar, Sarah Hague, and Walid Sayegh
Nassar, Hague, and Sayegh write in support of UN Special Rapporteur Oliver De Schutter’s visit to Lebanon, “Persistent failures by the Government of Lebanon (GoL) to put the country on the path of recovery have been disastrous. The World Bank has described this lack of action as deliberate, given that interventions to halt the economic decline would have entailed major financial losses by influential individuals and institutions. As a result, the burden of the crisis has been highly imbalanced, falling the hardest on those who were already poor or suffering from previous lifecycle vulnerabilities. With a deeply flawed social protection system, healthcare, education, electricity, clean water, adequate housing, transportation, and decent jobs have become only accessible to the few.”
Carnegie Middle East Center
The Politics of Perdition
Mohanad Hage Ali
Ali writes, “Miqati and his government, which was formed last September, have been on the defensive in recent weeks as Hezbollah and its allies have created one crisis after the other. The prime minister’s tenure began with Hezbollah’s controversial decision to import Iranian fuel, which could have brought US sanctions. The party’s response to the Bitar investigation and the crisis with the Gulf states have only made matters worse. Hezbollah’s primary focus now is to sideline Bitar and derail his investigation. The question is why has the party taken such an aggressive position, and placed itself at the center of the controversy over the investigation, when it could have hidden behind its allies to undermine Bitar? This is all the more surprising as Bitar has not accused Hezbollah or any of its members of involvement.”
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a non-profit, nonpartisan leadership organization of Lebanese-Americans.