MP Marc Daou blasts the banking strike . Says Lebanon is ruled by Hezbollah and Salameh

Newly elected reformist Parliament member Mark Daou blasted the strike of the Association of Banks’ describing it as blackmail , stressing that anyone has the right to file a lawsuit against the banks .

He added that the banks do not have the right to impose additional immunities, specially after they smuggled their money abroad and told depositors they cannot access their accounts.

The Association of Banks called for a strike starting Monday , accused people who are filing lawsuits of being unaware of basic banking and accounting laws, adding that it was surprised by some of the commissioners’ neglect in respecting the law and its provisions, “as if implementing the law has become optional, not mandatory.”

In a TV interview Daou called on the head of the Finance and Budget Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, to summon the Association of Banks leader and the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, for hearings over the issue of the strike which threatens people’s interests and salaries.

Daou described the talk about returning of deposits by the banks to their rightful owners as “Air talk ” stressing that the issue of returning deposits of accounts not exceeding $ 100,000 dollars, is still up in the air and “we do not even know the mechanism of securing such funds.”

Once the economy’s crown jewel, Lebanon’s banks are shutting branches and laying off employees in droves, resizing to the bleak reality of a crisis they are widely blamed for. 

Before the onset in 2019 of a financial collapse deemed one of the world’s worst since the 1850s by the World Bank, the small Mediterranean country had an oversized but prosperous banking sector.

The capital Beirut was a booming regional financial hub, attracting savers keen to profit from high interest rates and banking secrecy laws.

But nearly 3 years into the crisis, the reputation of Lebanese lenders has been shredded. 

A dizzying currency collapse, coupled with banks imposing strict withdrawal limits and prohibiting transfers abroad, has left ordinary depositors watching on helplessly as their savings evaporate.

Daou added, Lebanon is governed by two leaders , Riad Salameh, and Hezbollah, and they both have powerful lobbies in the parliament.”

Translated from an article in El Nashra website