The government’s recent decisions, especially related to increasing the price of gasoline and raising the TVA tax, recorded a wave of widespread parliamentary objections, reflecting the level of political and economic concern about their direct repercussions on citizens, especially those with limited income and those working in the private sector.
In this context, Representative Ihab Matar wrote on the “X” platform criticizing what he described as the “congratulations” that the government offered to the people on the eve of Ramadan, represented by approving an increase of 300,000 liras on gasoline by 21%, in addition to raising the TVA tax by 1%. Matar pointed out that the government missed the fact that “$6 a month on the WhatsApp application was enough to ignite a revolution,” considering that the $3.3 increase in gasoline, which is equivalent to $13 a month in the transportation sector, in addition to raising the TVA, constitutes a dangerous decision that leads to higher prices and a loss of consumer capacity among a wide segment of the Lebanese, in the absence of any accompanying reforms. He concluded by stressing that “the tax decisions are rejected and it is not right to pass them or remain silent about them.”
In turn, MP Walid Al-Baarini wrote on “X” that the citizen “drank the bitter cup of taxes to cover the wage hike,” warning that a 1% increase in the TVA might turn into double increases for some “greedy” merchants. He called on the Ministry of Economy and the government to monitor price slippage, to prevent salary increases from falling victim to inflation and the high cost of living, calling for accelerating reforms and controlling waste so that any future increases are not financed from the pockets of the poor.
As for Representative Bilal Abdullah, he stressed in a post that the Progressive Socialist Party will remain committed to the slogan of social justice and good distribution of wealth, calling for a radical reconsideration of the tax policy based on indirect taxes, which practically means imposing additional taxes on the consumer and the citizen.
In an escalatory stance, a member of the “Strong Lebanon” bloc, MP Cesar Abi Khalil, commented, considering that what is happening is “a return of the system to the policies of the 1990s” based on taxes, deflation, and deficits. He pointed out that the allocation of taxes violates the law and the constitution and had previously been dropped in the state Shura Council, criticizing what he described as the “system’s technocrats” not learning from previous experiences. He also pointed out that amending the local consumption fee begins with the Minister of Energy, considering that what happened raises question marks about administrative violations within the Council of Ministers, describing the scene as “wonders and curiosities.”
For his part, a member of the “Strong Lebanon” bloc, MP Edkar Trabelsi, saw that the government “takes from the people in order to give to the people,” in a plan that he described as apparently normal, but it pitted the exhausted people against retirees and public sector employees. He considered that the imposed taxes burdened citizens in return for meager increases, stopping at the elections file, where he saw that the government “abdicated responsibility from itself and placed it on Parliament,” questioning its actual intention in holding the elections. He also indicated that his bloc had a subsequent position on the full-time issue at the Lebanese University after reviewing the reality of the agreement and the content of the decision.
In the same context, MP Elias Hankash wrote that the government is looking for $800 million to increase public sector salaries, instead of restructuring the public sector, controlling borders, combating smuggling, activating customs, combating tax evasion, and fining marine and river properties, considering that the decision to finance the public sector from the pockets of the Lebanese “will not pass,” stressing that experience has proven the failure of this approach.
Likewise, a member of the “Strong Lebanon” bloc, MP George Atallah, considered that the government reproduced in its budget the same economic policies that led to the collapse, without any economic vision, accusing it of deceiving civil and military employees by deluding them with increasing salaries and then withdrawing them in practice by imposing taxes on gasoline and TVA, steps that he said were previously nullified through the state Shura Council.
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