Posts Tagged ‘warlord Walid Jumblatt’
Expatriate Contractor Class managing the contracted national debt in Lebanon… How Neo-Liberalism is applied in your country?
Posted by: adonis49 on: February 18, 2013
How Neoliberal expatriate Contractor Class is managing the contracted national debt in Lebanon?
How neoliberalism is applied in your country?
Neoliberalism is not a difficult concept to comprehand: Just observe its applications and consequences on your survival instinct.
The best way to understand neolibralism in the western developed nations is to witness how developing States are applying it.
Particularly, new small States recognized in the UN that were under direct mandated powers for many decades, and now are appeasing their former “masters” in order to enrich the oligarchy ruling class these under-developped “nations” are sustaining.
How neoliberalism is applied in Lebanon?
Together with the governor of the Central Bank and the Prime Minister, the minister of Finance is a crucial player in the management of government debt.
From 1992, late Rafik Hariri PM, and later the Hariri clan hoarded the control of these three institutions.
The policy adopted in 1993 pegged the Lebanese currency to the US dollar. What that means?
The State borrows on behalf of the government large sums of loans that are not needed to finance the deficit.
The borrowing mechanism is basically a political decision to get the State tightly linked to outside multinational financial institutions… Institutions that the ruling class has invested in and wants to generate quick profit in this globalization era… at the expense of the people they claim to work for their benefit…
This scheme drove up the demand for the Lebanese currency, raised the interest rates on government debt, and high interest returns for depositors (reaching 30% at determined periods as the Future Movement spread the words among its elite class to deposit) and the new expatriate Contractor wealthy class of billionnaires…
Leading the country into a dept trap.
A debt ever increasing ($60 bn) and absorbing a third of the government budget, every year since 1992.
Servicing the interest of the debt has one purpose: Keeping the new neoliberal Contractors class in control of the management of the financial and economic institutions.
The main benefiaciaries were commercial banks and their wealthy depositors: Lebanon financial and economic elite classes (new expatriate contractors, warlords, oligarchic politicians…) have the necessary savings to invest in government debt instruments.
The notion of neoliberalism is that, as long as the government maintains the confidence of the elite classes in the soundness of the financial policy, the situation can remain in control, precariously in control, and relying mainly on foreign support for the policy.
The IMF working paper from 2008 mentions that the continuous rollover of Lebanon debt depends on an “implicit guarantor” from donors and international financial institutions.
And who is the main donor guarantor? It is Saudi Arabia absolute wahhabi monarchy.
This Saudi Kingdom
1. Bought up Lebanon government bonds when investors refused to buy the bonds
2. It provided the largest chunk of concessionary loans at Paris 2 donor conference in 2002, and Paris 3 in 2007
3. It transfered One $bn to the central bank during Israel preemptive war in June 2006.
Consequently, the governor of the central bank, PM and finance minister must satisfy Saudi Arabia confidence!
The Hariri clan main objective was to deepen neoliberal economic “reforms”.
Former Fouad Seniora PM reiterated the neoliberal program, including privatization of State-controlled entities, welfare “reforms“, politically aimed at curtailing patronage opportunities of political rivals to the Future Movement…
However, Seniora could not pull off his wishes of abolishing the Council of the South (a Box of money controlled by Parliament chairman and worlord Nabih Berri) or the Central Fund for the Displaced “sandouk al mouhajjareen” (controlled by the Druze warlord Walid Jumblatt)
For over two decades, the Hariri clan attached a dozen public institutions to the Prime Minister, controlled the municipality of Beirut, extendit building permits to its elites and the foreign investors and dropping any resistrictions when convenient, assigning public contracts to the “Future Elite contractors” and entrepreneurs at manyfold the proper cost, extending their hold on Solidere for 75 years, never accounting for the bids on Sukleen which collect waste in Beirut at $100 per ton while costing $30 in Zahle for example…
The current “national debt” has skyrocketed to reach $70 bn, even after 2 decades of paying high interest rates. In addition to funding the warlord “reconstruction chests”, part of the loans were used to paying the tribute to the Syrian oligarchy, since lebanon was under Syria mandated power till 2005.
Mind you that Syria, after 2001, began a neoliberal policy for its oligarchic elite class, and privatizing new public institutions such as the mobile telecommunication and oil extraction and grandiose Real Estates development in Aleppo, Homs and Damascus…
Note 1: The oil boom increased the number of Lebanese workers in the Arab Gulf Emirates and Saudi Arabia within a decade from just 50,000 in 1970 to well over 210,000 in 1980, or one third of Lebanon work force.
Note 2: Post inspired from two chapters written by Fabrice Balanche and Hannes Baumann in the book “Lebanon after the Cedar Revolution”
Note 3: A wealthy international neoliberal club requires from its members to extract profit from their own country, as a proof of allegiance to global neoliberalism, in order to facilitate the infusion of unwarrented loans to their corresponding State.
Have you witnessed that almost all current prime ministers, finance ministers and governors of central banks in Europe, the USA and many other countries were “employees” at the IMF, the World Bank , World Commerce institutions and international financial corporations?
Note 4: Basically, the expatriate billionnaire contractors initially got the blessing of the former civil war warlords (Nabih Berri, Walid Jumblatt, Samir Jagea… supported by Syria, Saudi Arabia and the US neoliberal financial institutions) who were brought back to power, and then managed their financial porfolio and financed the election campaigns as political allies…
“Wild trails of Mount Lebanon”: Bzebdine and Falougha (Book review, Part 6)
Posted by: adonis49 on: March 8, 2010
Part 6: “Wild trails of Mount Lebanon” (Mar. 8, 2010)
Pierre Bared, a middle aged man, tall, svelte, with graying beard and three children decided to walked alone for 22 days on the wild trails of Mount Lebanon crossing it from the upper northern town of Kobayat to the southern town of Marje3youn in June 2008.
On the 17th day, two Syrian workers, guarding a newly renovated villa, did their best to welcome Pierre. They reserved him one of the two beds for the night and purchased a roasted chicken.
Many Christians denied Pierre, even a listening ear, during his walking trip. The place allocated to the workers was miserable: “the others” must have been used to miserable conditions!
Pierre descends a valley to the river and crosses a rickety bridge; he reached the town of Bzebdine by 1 pm.
It is Sunday; Pierre’s friends Joseph and Saba were to meet him for a picnic. The son of the owner of a building, studying for his public exam, gathers red and green prunes from his garden and offers them for the three men.
Two armed civilian militia of the socialist Druze party (of the warlord Walid Jumblatt) pay them a visit for questioning.
Pierre has hard time locating the trail to Kornayel using the useless guide book. He traverses a forest and hears gun shots and various arms firing. The forest is degraded by men.
By 6 pm, Pierre is in Falougha. Kids are playing soccer by the church yard: it is an unknown notion in Lebanon to reserve playing grounds and spaces for kids.
In Falougha, the mayor stops to pick up and collect detritus off the sides of streets: an example that renders this town clean.
Joseph, a member of the association “Sentiers du Mont Liban”, meets Pierre in an ice cream parlor. Joseph claims that the wild trails are not marked so that people call them up! What an excuse given that the association was awarded $3 millions for that project. It seems that part of the budget was allocated to restore a few welcoming houses for travelers. It is good to know that the project is done by volunteers and the private company is doing nothing.
Chamoun, the one who called Pierre to join him for the remainder of the trip, called Pierre and they agreed to meet at the main fountain in the morning. Pierre sleeps at Joseph’s house.
Next morning, Chamoun arrives decked in kaki outfit and all kinds of small flags pinned on the uniform; he even brought a spare boot. They both ascend to Dahr el Baidar; an army post is there but did not disturb the travelers. The walkers take a break under the shadow of a lonely tree.
They cross Damascus Highway to catch the old train tunnel: no train rails are left. They see a quarry, so many unlicensed quarries in Lebanon that are disfiguring the landscape. Many Lorries are suffocating the climate with dirt. They meet a 10 year-old girl shepherding goats: Pierre gives the girl water to drink.
A couple of old folks are gathering cherries and apricots; they welcome the travelers as if they knew them. The walkers see another quarry that inflicts significant pain to the eyesight. They meet an old cultivator who invites them to his one room depot.
They continue to Ain Dara. They meet workers rebuilding the bridge of Mdayrej that Israel bombed in 2006; they eat with the workers at the central town square restaurant and good boy jokes fuse from everywhere. Chamoun is carrying promotional materials concerning his exploits, adventures, and recommendation in health care; he never stops talking once he is carried away for his aggrandizement attitudes.
Pierre and Chamoun resume their trip to Nabe3 el Safa; they cross a small natural farm of cows and chicken co-existing. They come into an orchard of peach trees (best peaches in the world). They stumble over a sofa under a tree: they could not let this luck be missed for a well deserved pause.
For the first time in the trail, Pierre sees a notice warning against landmines, cluster bombs, and unexplosed missiles left by Israel recurring bombing of Lebanon. They reach the “Cedar reserve” of Chouf; the guard of the forest reserve offers them a room with two real beds and a real hot shower facility (5 stars accommodation).
The next day, the photographer Alfred shows up for photo sessions of the routine cedar tree planting. Planting a cedar tree in the reserve cost $250, including entrance card to the forest any time, having your name attached to the tree, and a certificate; the tree has the number 116. The mayor accompanies Pierre.
The walkers return to Falougha for another planting ceremony of cedar tree, and then to Mtein.
Chamoun calls up his sister to give them ride to the cedar reserve; she drops Pierre in Mdayrej; Chamoun calls it quit and returns with his sister home. Pierre waits 30 minutes to be picked up by a truck to Nabe3 el Safa; the next target town for Pierre is Barouk.
Adonis Diaries 