🇱🇧 Downtown Beirut minutes ago. Something is brewing against the ruling political class. There seems to be a growing rejection of that class across all sects.
🇱🇧 Lebanon: bottom line, the Lebanese state is broke. the economy is in very bad shape. The ruling class’ corruption is catching up with it. No solutions on the horizon. 
🇱🇧 Lebanon: geopolitics and alliances aside, the ruling Lebanese class is itself part of the problems driving the country to bankruptcy, not to mention, the sclerotic sect-based system that ultimately makes governing and planning almost impossible.
🇱🇧 Lebanon: one thing is beyond dispute today. Lebanon’s Christians, Muslims and Druze are all broke. Equally broke I’d say.
🇱🇧 Lebanon: what seems different about this wave of protests is that the classical: “all politicians are corrupt except the guy from my sect” has been much more muted than past times.
#لبنان_ينتفض
#لبنان_ينتفض
🇱🇧 Lebanon: the tone of the protests isn't restricted to removing this government or abolishing that tax.. but questioning the entire system. The keyword here is "revolution"
🇱🇧 Lebanon: convergence of biggest protests in recent memory in Tripoli, the north’s capital, often maligned as a bastion of both Sunnis, fanaticism, anarchy ..
🇱🇧 Lebanon: a lot of anger from protesters is directed at Parliament's speaker Nabih Barri and his Amel movement. Here, a woman from Tyre enraged after she got beaten by Amel movement thugs. This happened also in Beirut.
🇱🇧 Lebanon: so what’s next? bottom line is that the country needs urgently a mass injection of cash to stabilize the economy. Two problems though:
1- that’s not a real solution but a temporary one
2- Countries who did it in the past no longer feel Lebanon matters to them
1- that’s not a real solution but a temporary one
2- Countries who did it in the past no longer feel Lebanon matters to them
🇱🇧 Lebanon - Dark Lebanese geopolitical humor:
“Saudi Arabia invites all the Lebanese leaders to meet at its Istanbul consulate”
Saudi Arabia used to bail out Lebanon, but that stopped because of Hizbullah’s growing role in public life.
“Saudi Arabia invites all the Lebanese leaders to meet at its Istanbul consulate”
Saudi Arabia used to bail out Lebanon, but that stopped because of Hizbullah’s growing role in public life.
🇱🇧🇮🇶🇩🇿🇪🇬🇸🇩 Question holds: so who is really the irrational one? a- the people of the region demanding to have representative governments serving their interests,
or
b- outside powers propping corrupt, violent and incompetent regimes?
or
b- outside powers propping corrupt, violent and incompetent regimes?
🇱🇧 Lebanon: the Lebanese aren't in a "WhatsApp" revolution.. they're revolting because their government has already taxed EVERYTHING, and yet the State can't get anything done. Public services are terrible, the economy is tanking.
#لبنان_ينتفض
#لبنان_ينتفض
🇱🇧 Lebanon: to put it bluntly, the Lebanese government has run out of things to tax in order to keep money in its coffers. the WhatsApp tax was the last stroke.. what’s next? tax breathable air? no viable..given the pollution rates in the Lebanese cities.
#لبنان_ينتفض
#لبنان_ينتفض
🇱🇧 Lebanon: people have been advancing an average of 1.2 - 1.6 million protesters countrywide. Tip: all of Lebanon is 4 Million.
🇱🇧🇸🇩Meanehile, in Sudan, the new minister of youth and sports, in the transitional government, held a press conference EXPLAINING and exposing all the corruption/misuse of public funds by the previous regime.
This may look unrelated, but it isn’t.
This may look unrelated, but it isn’t.
🇱🇧🇮🇶🇩🇿🇸🇩🇪🇬🇯🇴 Lebanon’s events are fundamentally is the same as what’s happening in the other scoeities in the region: a popular demand for good governance, representative governance. This will keep on happening till the ppl get what they want. Nothing will stop it.
🇱🇧 Lebanon - countdown: reportedly, the government is readying a package of economic reforms to be announced tomorrow. Meanwhile, all banks will remain closed — for “security reasons”.
🇱🇧Lebanon: reforms package said to include major salary cuts for ministers & MP’s, privatization of telecom sector, higher taxation on Insurance companies and banks. Additionally, full restructuring of power grid & company. Goa: cut expenditure, increase income
🇱🇧 Lebanon: the reforms on paper sound great. In practice, the additional stated goal of cracking down on the underground economy (smuggling) and more effective taxation remain lofty goals as those are a major source of income for political parties to maintain patronage networks
🇱🇧 Lebanon: another case of Lebanese youth turning on sect leaders/warlords/officials turned oligarchs in their own sects. Setting aside the insider baseball. The message is: "you ppl serving these thieves, what are u getting in return for your loyalty? poverty that's it"
