The old tenants staged on Wednesday a sit-in in downtown Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square where various civil servant groups are also holding a protest, to express their rejection to the new rent law, calling on the authorities to be fair in passing a new bill pertaining to their case.
In this context, the head of the committee of old tenants Nabil al-Arja told LBCI that the new rent law aims at displacing the people and serves the interest of the large real estate companies.
“We call on President Michel Sleiman to reject this law in order to save Lebanon from a huge crisis,” he said.
The tenants have been on a continuous strike, blocking several roads across Lebanon and voicing their rejection to the new rent law.
Protesters, gathered in Ashrafieh's Sassine Square on Saturday, urging President Michel Sleiman to return the law to Parliament for further examination “to prevent half of the Lebanese people from becoming homeless”.
One week ago, lawmakers passed a controversial draft rent law rejected by old tenants. Under the new law, rents regulated by the old rent law would increase over six years until they reach 5 percent of the current market value of an apartment.
More than 200,000 apartments, mostly in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, are estimated to be rented under the old law, which governs lease contracts enacted before 1992.
Inhabitants pay minimal rent fees that often amount to less than LL1,000,000 a year – a remnant of the country’s preinflation days just after the Civil War.
Longtime tenants argue that the draft law would displace thousands of families. To watch Dalal Mawad's report, please click on the video above.