The distinguished Jaafari Mufti, Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan, launched a sharp attack on the performance of the executive authority, warning that Lebanon was heading towards what he described as “sovereign social and financial suicide.” In return, he called for a “loud internal cry” and holding the authority accountable for its economic and social policies.
In a statement he issued, Qabalan considered that the country was suffering under the weight of “the failure of leadership, the burning of laws, the paralysis of authority, the vacuum of the state, the stagnation of the economy, and the groaning of the social classes,” accusing the executive authority of living in isolation from the suffering of the Lebanese, at a time when social segments are facing worsening crises affecting various sectors and governorates, amid widespread inflation and financial paralysis, and the government evading its internal and external responsibilities.
The Mufti stressed the necessity of “revitalizing the Lebanese structure, ensuring the minimum financial and economic defense, and saving the ability to live and survive,” in addition to creating job opportunities. In a related context, he criticized what he described as “the authority’s media propaganda” and the way it manages state facilities.
He also directed sharp criticism at a number of political parties, accusing them of shirking their national responsibilities as a result of what he described as their “foreign obligations,” and stressing the importance of “being frank with the Lebanese people” about the reality of the country’s financial and social disintegration.
In conclusion, Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan warned that the current government performance puts Lebanon in front of “a predicament that is turning into a financial, economic and political cancer,” calling for “the greatest national alignment” to confront this dangerous path, adding by saying: “The fear is not of the apparent queues, but of the behind-the-scenes queues that want to bankrupt Lebanon.”
