Former PM wars of 'consequences' if Lebanon does not abide by Caesar Act

BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Wednesday warned that there would be consequences if Lebanon did not abide by a new U.S. Syria sanctions bill, called the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act of 2019.

The law, which went into effect Wednesday, authorizes additional sanctions and financial restrictions on institutions and individuals doing business with the Syrian regime or helping it in postwar reconstruction.

The government must decide on how to deal with the Caesar law, Hariri told reporters after a meeting with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt at his Downtown Beirut residence Wednesday night.

This is not a Lebanese law. Its an American law ... Any state, even from Europe, that deals with Syria, will be subjected to [US] sanctions, Hariri said, adding that there would be consequences if any country failed to abide by the Caesar Act.

The US Embassy in Beirut said the Caesar Act is not directed at Lebanon's economy, but any foreign company working with the Syrian regime puts itself at risk of sanctions.

Caesar Act sanctions are not directed at Lebanons economy or the Lebanese people, a US Embassy spokesperson told The Daily Star, stressing that claims the sanctions will lead to the countrys starvation are completely false.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah declared during a televised speech Tuesday that Lebanon should not observe the new US sanctions which, he said, would aim to starve Syria and Lebanon, stressing that the party would not submit to the latest American move.

Earlier Wednesday, Hariri, during a trip to the Bekaa Valley region, called for national unity in order to help Lebanon, which is reeling under its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, avert a much-feared collapse of its struggling economy. Hariri traveled to the Bekaa Valley to check on the health of Zahle and Bekaa Mufti Sheikh Khalil al-Meiss.

Unfortunately, the country is passing through difficult stages. We must close ranks and explore ways to get the country out of these crises through which it is passing, especially the economic collapse, Hariri said during the meeting with Meiss at the latters house in the Bekaa town of Makseh.

Meanwhile, Hariri and three other ex-premiers have ramped up their harsh criticism of President Michel Aoun, saying his mandate has been characterized by infringement on the Taif Accord and violation of public freedoms.

This came in a statement issued Wednesday after a meeting that brought Hariri together with former premiers Najib Mikati, Fouad Siniora and Tammam Salam at Mikatis Beirut residence Tuesday night.

The four leaders, who have been meeting regularly after they have been united in their opposition to Aouns presidency and Prime Minister Hassan Diabs government, discussed latest local, regional and international developments, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The four ex-premiers lamented that the government, which has been in office for more than four months, has not made any practical, decisive and serious step to begin the required reforms, deemed essential to encourage the international community to extend badly needed financial aid to the crisis-hit and cash-strapped country.

Among the chronic difficulties for the government to carry out the required reforms is the electricity sector, when it backed down on a Cabinet decision concerning the Selaata power plant, the four ex-premiers said.

They added that the ailing electricity sector has cost Lebanon more than half of its soaring public debt, estimated at over $90 billion, equivalent to 170 percent of its gross domestic product.

The four ex-premiers cited the uncontrolled crossings on the Lebanese-Syrian border as a major source of waste of public funds. They also criticized a string of key administrative and financial appointments, including the appointment of four new deputy governors in the Central Bank, approved by the government last week.

These appointments ignored the rules of competency, merit, competition and the relevant law approved by Parliament recently, the statement said.

During a legislative session last month, Parliament endorsed a draft law on setting a mechanism for Grade One appointments in public administration, which would eliminate the ability of ministers to appoint civil servants. The Free Patriotic Movement opposed the law, calling it unconstitutional and vowed to challenge it before the Constitutional Council.

Referring to Aouns refusal to sign a decree on a new batch of key judicial appointments proposed and approved by the Higher Judicial Council, the four ex-premiers said: Facts can almost characterize this [Aouns] mandate by infringement on freedom of expression, the Taif Accord, the Constitution, trespassing the limits of power and touching the independence of the judiciary as was seen in [Aouns] sending back the judicial appointments that had been approved and maintained by the Higher Judicial Council.

They added that Aouns six-year tenure, now in its fourth year, has also been characterized by attacks on the law, indulging in practices of monopoly [of state posts], upsetting internal balances and destroying Lebanons Arab and international relations.

Whats painful, while we are weeks away from the first centenary of the birth of Greater Lebanon, is that the imbalances that have increased under this [Aouns] mandate and under this government have been and are still at the root of the economic, financial, social, and living collapse that brought Greater Lebanon and its people to the abyss, the four leaders said.

They added that this situation and the grave and negative repercussions it entails, calls on the presidency and the government to immediately begin taking what is necessary for national salvation and to restore confidence in Lebanon, its state, economy and future.

The four ex-premiers expressed their deep concern over what they called escalating sectarian and confessional tensions that swept the country following riots in Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli last week.

The acts of vandalism and fires on the night of June 12 in Beirut and later in Tripoli and before it in Sidon were not isolated from the policies that harbored hatred against these cities, namely in the capital, they said. What happened on that night constituted a disgrace on the foreheads of hooligan and subversive groups. Their attacks exposed their belonging to anything that threatens stability and civil peace.

The four leaders called on military, security and judicial authorities to apprehend all those who participated in these shameful and criminal attacks and bring them to justice.

In a bid to defuse sectarian tensions, Hariri met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri Tuesday and the two agreed that safeguarding civil peace was top priority, calling for intensified efforts to ward off the threat of sectarian strife.

The two leaders comments came a few days after nationwide anti-government protests, triggered by the dramatic collapse of the Lebanese pound against the US dollar, turned violent in Downtown Beirut, with protesters attacking and vandalizing public and private properties and setting many storefronts on fire.

The Beirut riots last Thursday and Friday, which drew nationwide denunciation by top political and religious leaders and harsh criticism of the government for failing to order the Army and security forces to crack down on the rioters, heightened fears of sectarian violence in the capital as Shiite protesters had been blamed for the rampage. In addition to Beiruts rioting, anti-government protesters clashed with the Army and security forces in Tripoli Saturday night that left over 80 injured from both sides.

Copyright 2020, The Daily Star. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).