Lebanese cabinet to hold first meeting Jan 24 since October

BEIRUT - Lebanon will hold its first cabinet meeting in three months on January 24, Al Jadeed TV channel said, citing Economy Minister Amin Salam.

Hezbollah and Amal, two powerful groups which back several ministers, said on Saturday they would end a boycott of cabinet sessions, which had been blocking any meetings.

The announcement opened the way for ministers to meet for the first time since October 12. It came four days after a general strike by public transportation and labour unions that paralyzed Lebanon as the country suffers one of the world's worst economic crises.

The country’s ruling class has done almost nothing to try to pull the country out of its meltdown, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement.

The political class that has run the small nation of 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees, since the 1975-90 civil war is resisting reforms demanded by the international community.

About 80% of people in Lebanon live in poverty after the Lebanese pound lost more than 90% of its value. Lebanon’s economy shrank 20.3 in 2020 and about 7% last year, according to the World Bank.

Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2022 released Thursday that “the corrupt and incompetent Lebanese authorities have deliberately” plunged the country into one of the worst economic crises in modern times, demonstrating a disregard for the rights of the population.

It called for the international community to use “every tool at its disposal to pressure Lebanese policymakers to put in place the reforms necessary to pull Lebanon out of this crisis,” said Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. She added that they should include imposing sanctions against leaders responsible for the “ongoing grave human rights violations.”