Mikati follows in Berri footsteps in torpedoing IMF agreement

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After Speaker Nabih Berri failed to "detail" an agenda for a legislative session to extend the mandate of General Security chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim, sources close to the March 8 alliance did not hide their regret for the state that this alliance has reached.

The same sources acknowledged that the level of mistrust between allies appears to have gotten out of hand, especially in light of the intensification of the presidential dispute between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement.

This dispute spread to the government and parliament, preventing legislation from extending Ibrahim's term. On the other hand, they confirmed that the "duo" is currently attempting to complete this task through the government, whose head, Najib Mikati promised to look for "the necessary legal and administrative exits for it."

Mikati approaches the different files and tasks in a manner that "follows in the footsteps of" Berri, the most important of which is the task of "blowing up" the agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

This article is originally published in, translated from Lebanese newspaper Nidaa al-Watan.

What the caretaker prime minister intended, or at least what he discusses with only "a few" politicians and economists, has now captured the interest of most of those who follow the development of the agreement with the fund...

The secret did not last long before Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab revealed by saying that "the final agreement with the fund is no longer close to being reached, as the differences are great," especially on how to involve the state in returning the most significant part of deposits, exempting banks from bearing this heavy responsibility, and entrusting the political class to dispose of the state's assets under the title of "sacred deposits."

Sources following the course of implementing the terms of the agreement with the fund recount how Berri told Mikati on October 19 that the "parliament is the master of itself. I don't follow orders from anyone, and neither the IMF nor anyone else has control over the country."

Leaving loopholes in the Banking Secrecy Law amendments that were not approved by the fund and finishing a draft law to control withdrawals and transfers (capital control) in joint committees that did not have the fund's approval are two additional examples of Mikati's cooperation with Berri and several deputies in this regard.

What's worse is that Mikati was quick to follow Riad Salameh, Governor of the Banque du Liban, in making risky detours on the preconditions of the agreement.

The most prominent of these was maintaining multiple exchange rates, leaving Salameh the freedom to do "what he sees fit" in terms of restructuring the banks and not pressuring minister of finance Youssef Khalil to accelerate the tax reform required by the fund, specifically increasing the collection from the affluent and the rich, whether their wealth and investments are at home or abroad.

Well-informed sources told Nidaa al-Watan that Mikati "is missing a valuable opportunity for financial rescue through the IMF" in his typical manner of rounding corners.

The strangest thing is that he claims otherwise whenever he meets an Arab or international officials or ambassadors from the five countries that met earlier this month in Paris to discuss the Lebanese situation politically and economically.

The same sources pointed out that Mikati "distracts attention from his agenda in this field by focusing on holding the Aounists accountable for obstruction and impeding the reforms."