Beirut: «The Gulf»
Yesterday, Saturday, the Lebanese pound witnessed a new historical collapse in its value once morest the dollar, amid a stifling economic crisis that hit the country. The exchange rate of the dollar on the black market yesterday morning recorded 40,000 Lebanese pounds for purchase, and 40,100 pounds for sale, in light of the insane rise in prices that the Lebanese market is witnessing, at a time when the House of Representatives is supposed to meet once more the day following tomorrow, Tuesday, in preparation for a third session to elect a new President of the Republic. At a time when fears are confirmed that Lebanon is indeed going into a presidential vacuum. Yesterday, Saturday, the dollar exchange rate on the black market crossed the threshold of 40,000 pounds, for the first time in Lebanon’s history. Lebanese sources stated that the dollar exchange rate ranged between 39,950 pounds and 40,000 pounds, while the official price of the dollar is 1,507 Lebanese pounds.
The sources indicated that the situation may get worse in the coming days, in light of the continuing political stalemate pending the third parliamentary session to elect a president next Thursday, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri invited the Parliament to hold a session at eleven in the morning on Tuesday followingnoon. In order to elect two secretaries, three commissioners and members of the parliamentary committees, this session will be followed by a legislative session.
Hours following the failure of the second session of the Lebanese Parliament last Thursday to elect a new president, Paris sent its foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, to Beirut with firm “presidential” messages that she conveyed to the presidents before she returned. The French minister stressed that “a new president must be elected before the end of October,” noting that “the message she carried” is that the constitutional entitlement must be respected, and this is a basic necessity for Lebanon, and it cannot tolerate the danger of a power vacuum.
On the other hand, the American mediator for the demarcation of the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel, Amos Hochstein, pointed out that “the maritime agreement between the two sides is beneficial to Israel’s security,” stressing that “Israel did not get everything it wanted, and Lebanon did not get what it wanted.” All he wants is that this is how negotiations usually take place.” Hochstein pointed out that “Israel wants its economic share of course, but it really wants stability in the Mediterranean, and Israel’s dominance of the Mediterranean is the result of its tremendous success in developing such a large amount of natural gas.”
Hochstein stressed that “the protection line was not the official border between Israel and Lebanon, and now Lebanon has agreed to recognize it as a situation that exists between it and Israel, and this allows Israel to patrol along this line and the possibility of supervising it… This is a great thing for Israel.”
