Prime Minister Hassan Diab chaired on Monday a financial and security meeting with the country’s supervisory bodies, declaring “war on corruption”.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Zeina Akar, Minister of Interior and Municipalities Mohammad Fahmi, Minister of Justice Marie-Claude Najm, the chiefs of the competent military, security as well as judiciary authorities and the Money Changers Syndicate Head.
At the beginning of the meeting, which was devoted to following up on the current security situation and controlling the US dollar exchange rate, Diab took stock at the sabotage that took place in Tripoli and Beirut, labeling it as a disaster.
PM Diab considered that what happened was a blow to all the attributes of the State, stressing that he will definitely not accept this mayhem in the streets, the attack of private and public properties, and the attempt to disrupt the security stability and pose a threat to the country.
Diad said: “I urge all relevant services and the judiciary to arrest every person who participated in this crime, whether in Beirut, Tripoli or in any other region.”
He stressed that if these people are not arrested, there is no point in the existence of the entire State. PM Diab added: “Thugs have no other motive than vandalism, and they should be thrown in jail, period”.
Afterwards, PM Diab addressed the issue of the dollar exchange rate’s control, calling for conducting an investigation into the loss of dollars in the Lebanese market.
“There should be an investigation into this matter, and you are here with all relevant services. I assume that you have answers to what happened, because this was a recurrent issue, and as I said before, we will not remain silent in the face of any attempt to tamper with people’s livelihoods.”
“Our responsibility is to protect people’s salaries and livelihoods. So we should not act as if nothing has happened. We want a full, integrated, forensic and judicial investigation. It is not permissible to have a crime without having a criminal, unless what happened is considered as normal, and I am personally convinced, and I have specific data, that what happened was a deliberate act.”
The meeting discussed the mechanism approved by the Council of Ministers regarding the dollar’s price reduction. According to the said mechanism, powers will be granted to relevant services charged with its implementation.
The interlocutors have also agreed on establishing an operations room at the General Directorate of General Security to follow up on the matter. Central Bank’s Governor stressed on the commitment to inject dollars into the markets.
The interlocutors have asserted that authorized money changers will abide by the Syndicate’s conditions and that the Central Bank will hand dollars over to them to prevent it from falling in the hands of speculators or being smuggled abroad.
Source: NNA
