The financial crisis is getting worse as we speak. The Lebanese lira has already hit its all-time low, while unemployment and poverty are hitting an all-time high.
In 2020, Lebanon is living its worst crisis ever. Hunger is threatening at people’s doorsteps, poverty and unemployment are growing exponentially, and pictures of empty fridges in Lebanon only serve as proof.
Now, people are taking to the internet to trade personal and household items for basic goods. People are putting up their clothes, shoes, even glassware for diapers, cooking oil, and baby formula.
These basic necessities have become so expensive in Lebanon and unemployment has hit so many that people are giving away their belongings in order to secure some basics for their families.
NGOs across Lebanon are working to provide food packages for people in need. But can organizations really keep up with the growing number of deprived citizens?
“The country’s remaining middle class is being destroyed and the working class [is being] decapitated,” tweeted journalist Kareem Chehayeb.
On the other end, Lebanese people keep catching trucks heading to Syria loaded with smuggled subsidized goods from the country. The trucks are taking necessary items from cooking oil to flour to potatoes, while the authorities turn a blind eye to the matter.
The speaker of the parliament just called for the government to declare a financial state of emergency and stop the economy from collapsing.
The reality is that Lebanon has been already in a dire financial emergency for a while now and the economy is already agonizing.
From his side, MP Samy Gemayel urged the President to tackle Lebanon’s real problems rather than holding “out of place” dialogues when what is most urgently needed is reforms and listening to the people’s demands.
Many political officials took the same stance this week, boycotting the president’s national meeting, declaring it a “waste of time” and “throwing ashes in the eyes.”
They all seem to have finally agreed that the time for “talks” without constructive solutions is gone.
However, the crucial question, would the boycotting stance solve the painful issues the people are enduring?
The national meeting around “civil peace” did take place with those who attended. When would we see a national meeting for the immediate implementation of effective solutions?
Until when the Lebanese nation has to wait for the crucially needed reforms?