Things are bound to worsen as Lebanon’s economy shrivels. The currency has lost nearly 80% of its value to the US dollar and unemployment has risen to more than 35%. Divisions among Lebanon’s sectarian leadership hamper attempts to address the crisis.
Monday 08/02/2021
A woman pushes a cart past damaged buildings in Mar Mikhael, Lebanon. (REUTERS)
BEIRUT- Living in a two-room apartment in the slum of Kobbeh in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli, Nabiha Bishtani, a widow and mother of four young children, relies completely on charity and donations to feed her family.
“I am registered with four different charities that provide me with some cash and food. We have no income since my husband passed away two years ago. Life is so difficult we are barely surviving with the assistance,” said Bishtawi, 43.
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BEIRUT: The rift between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri over the formation of Lebanon’s new government widened on Friday.
File photo of PM designate Saad Hariri L) , and president Michel Aoun
Hariri was instructed to form a new government on Oct. 22, but no progress has yet been made, leaving the country in a political deadlock to add to its economic woes and the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Video footage was broadcast on Jan. 11 of a meeting between Aoun and the caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, in which Aoun accused Hariri of lying when he claimed that his proposed government lineup had been approved. Commentators have claimed that, in doing so, Aoun insulted the office of prime minister and head of government, thus widening the gulf between the president and the prime minister-designate. Over the past 10 days, several attempts to bridge that gap have failed.