The head of the Lebanese Medical Social Gathering, Prof. Raef Reda, called upon Lebanese Armed Forces Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun to declare “a state of life emergency” in Lebanon.
In a statement on Wednesday, Prof. Reda urged Gen. Aoun to declare “a state of life emergency for medicine, fuel, gas, and foodstuffs, which are at the core of [the army’s] exceptional missions to maintain social security.”
The call comes after the situation in Lebanon has reached the point of fights at gas stations that have resulted in deaths, not to mention the protests and the road-blocking that are taking place in most areas, he said.
Reda cited the blackouts, the shortages in fuel and medicine, and the monopoly of the latter two and their selling at painful prices on the black market, as reasons for this public outrage and social unrest.
He also accused Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh of “repudiating” the provision of credits and the government of being absent from its role, “especially the absence of caretaker Economy Minister Raoul Nehme from taking responsibility.”
As such, Reda stressed that the Lebanese Army‘s role had become “necessary for the people’s confidence in this institution.”
He urged the army to put its hand on all these matters so that it can “stop the bleeding that is taking place in the monopoly and hoarding,” end the humiliation, the fighting, and the casualties, and alleviate the suffering of the Lebanese people.
“We appeal to the army commander for a quick response to save people from this ordeal in order to prevent casualties and to preserve social security, which is at the heart of the army’s doctrine in these compelling circumstances that the country is going through.”