A year after the Beirut bombing, Lebanon plunged deep into the mire of corruption | Lebanon

In the zero earth of the Lebanese apocalypse, a stench of dead mice emanates from piles of rotten wheat piles. The broken silos are teased upwards, their sides torn by the catastrophic explosion that broke even the spirit of Beirut; the content that should have nourished a nation still stands poured over the deep ruins of its main port.

A year ago this week, one of the worst industrial accidents caused one of its largest eruptions ever, destroying a city that was already at a turning point. The cloud of chemical fungi that rose over the Lebanese capital on August 4, 2020, and the seismic force of the shock wave that destroyed its homes and businesses were carried around the world in a high-definition horror. Even in the midst of the chaos of a country that had allowed this to happen to its people, this was surely a moment of reckoning.

However, on the eve of the first anniversary of the disasters, Lebanon remains paralyzed and anxious. The investigation into the explosion is over and its perpetrators are as far from responsibility as ever. Even worse, for the Lebanese majority, the global aid promised after the destruction remains abandoned by the country’s rulers, who prefer the narrow privileges that came to them from a crippled system to a global rescue plan that could save the country.

Who would have thought that our begging bowl would be so big and so empty, said Nidal Osman, a supplier of the building in Tripoli. The world should laugh at us. They wanted to give money, and instead they got a slap in the face. As they laugh, we cry.

In exchange for up to $ 11 billion in aid, France called for structural reforms in governance and transparency at all levels of spending. Billions more from Europe have been conditioned by a dark central bank check, which has been critical of Lebanon’s wealth movement.

In the year since Beirut began taking the pieces, the Lebanese currency has fallen 15 times in value. Hyperinflation has left staple foods beyond the reach of most of its population. Vital medicine can no longer be found On Friday, a four-year-old girl died from a scorpion bite because anti-venom was not available. And there is not enough fuel to supply the electricity sector, or the private generator mafia covering the gap, charging exorbitant prices to do so.

Instead of giving birth to an era of redemption, the explosion has come to determine the complete dysfunction of a state that has failed for all its purposes and goals. Its political class remains incapable of forming a government, still quarreling over the division of ministries as rewards to strengthen their fiefdoms. State institutions, too, are subject to excavated factions. The country’s central bank reserves have fallen below mandatory requirements, meaning an imminent end to subsidies in the country to protect the middle classes as well. The Lebanese have joined the Syrians and other abandoned regions to go to the Mediterranean by dinghy to escape their conditions, despite the danger. And there is no solution other than a great deal of international aid that would mean severing a system that has prevailed for 30 years since the end of the civil war.

As Lebanon’s large-scale meltdown continues to be absorbed by its people, some are beginning to face the uncomfortable view that states, the foundations of which were flawed in each of its incarnations. From the Ottoman Empire to the French mandate, Syrian custody, the devastation of the civil war and then the rentier system that followed in 1991 Do you accepts that ended the conflict, Lebanon has never had an easy run. But the last three decades in particular have laid the foundations for its destruction.

Pas Taifit, [the warlords] received consolation awards, rather than being punished for waging war as long as they continued, said Nora Boustany, a lecturer in journalism at the American University of Beirut, which covered the conflict and its aftermath. They went to town. It was a reward for them. The Syrians knew what was happening and they also wanted some of the action. To keep the peace, there was an accommodation with justice. This created a culture of impunity and it became the norm.

Rafic Hariri went ahead with the reconstruction, said Boustany of the former prime minister who led Lebanon’s post-war reconstruction, amassing a large fortune along the way. Saudi Arabia and Syria were central to the reconstruction of Lebanon, creating patronage networks and spheres of influence that took an important part in the affairs of the country, while at the same time giving defenders a free liberty over large fortunes.

There was a wealth, a greatness and a visible life that was brought to Beirut, she said. This was deleted in his circle. Accommodation was for this to happen to maintain peace. Everyone held the snout in the trough. They shared the aid and money from the big funds, and they just kept stealing. There was so much money for institution building and almost none of it went there.

Last week, Lebanon appointed the country’s richest man, Nijab Mikati, a two-time prime minister and resident of his poorest city, Tripoli, as designated leader and charged him with forming a government. For the past 12 months, Saad Hariri, another leader and son of the assassinated Rafic Hariri, had been unable to do so, his various cabinet formations rejected by the country’s president, Michel Aoun. Hariri, a product of the system and a beneficiary of it until his wealth was returned was charged by France to break it. His former defender, Saudi Arabia, had abandoned him in 2017 to hand over political power to Hezbollah, which has since stepped up its influence with Aoun on the cover.

What is happening now is the clash between two projects, two ideas, said Khaldoun Charif, a Tripoli-based veteran analyst on Lebanese affairs. People need to understand that corruption is the system here. It was preserved as such during the implementation of Taif in 1991. Everyone received gifts to begin with. It was the age of greatness. Everyone started stealing money and they were encouraged to do so. There was no chance of a normal state as envisaged now, given the system then in place.