{"id":1086,"date":"2023-07-27T00:42:49","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T00:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/?p=1086"},"modified":"2023-07-27T13:57:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T13:57:00","slug":"lebanon-politicians-scramble-to-avoid-central-bank-vacuum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/lebanon-politicians-scramble-to-avoid-central-bank-vacuum\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanon politicians scramble to avoid Central Bank vacuum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>As Governor Riad Salameh\u2019s 30-year term at the helm of Lebanon\u2019s central bank comes to a close, Lebanese politicians are making last-minute efforts to prevent a leadership gap. The potential vacuum raises concerns about further fragmentation of the state amid the ongoing financial crisis. The political factions are split over the best course of action: appoint a successor or permit the first vice governor to assume the role. This indecision mirrors the broader divisions that have left the presidency vacant and the country without a fully functioning cabinet for over a year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Lebanese officials were in a last-minute scramble on Wednesday to avoid leaving the crisis-hit country&#8217;s Central Bank without a leader when Governor, Riad Salameh&#8217;s 30-year tenure ends next week,\u00a0<i>Reuters<\/i>\u00a0reports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The prospect of a vacuum at the top of the Central Bank has added to concerns about the further fragmentation of the State as it barrels towards a fifth year of financial turmoil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Even as the clock winds down, politicians remain split over whether to appoint a successor or allow the Bank&#8217;s first Vice Governor to take over as laid out in law, reflecting wider divisions that have also left the presidency vacant and the country without a fully empowered cabinet for over a year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Powerful Iran-backed group, Hezbollah, and its Christian ally, the Free Patriotic Movement, are against appointing a new governor, while Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, and caretaker premier, Najib Mikati, are spearheading efforts to name one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mikati, his deputy Saade Chami and Finance Minister, Youssef Khalil, met on Wednesday with the Bank&#8217;s four vice governors, according to the state&#8217;s\u00a0<i>National News Agency<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The four had earlier this month\u00a0threatened to resign\u00a0if no successor to Salameh was named, risking a total vacuum in the top rungs of the Central Bank as the economy sinks further.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"qT9863n1FN\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/%d8%b1%d8%a6%d9%8a%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d9%8a%d8%a4%d8%af%d9%8a-%d8%b5%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%b2%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a3%d8%ae\/\">\u0631\u0626\u064a\u0633 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0645\u0627\u0631\u0627\u062a \u064a\u0624\u062f\u064a \u0635\u0644\u0627\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u062c\u0646\u0627\u0632\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0623\u062e\u064a\u0647 \u0627\u0644\u0631\u0627\u062d\u0644 \u0633\u0639\u064a\u062f \u0628\u0646 \u0632\u0627\u064a\u062f<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;\u0631\u0626\u064a\u0633 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0645\u0627\u0631\u0627\u062a \u064a\u0624\u062f\u064a \u0635\u0644\u0627\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u062c\u0646\u0627\u0632\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0623\u062e\u064a\u0647 \u0627\u0644\u0631\u0627\u062d\u0644 \u0633\u0639\u064a\u062f \u0628\u0646 \u0632\u0627\u064a\u062f&#8221; &#8212; diplomatique\" src=\"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/%d8%b1%d8%a6%d9%8a%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d9%8a%d8%a4%d8%af%d9%8a-%d8%b5%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%b2%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a3%d8%ae\/embed\/#?secret=P02jct4P3M#?secret=qT9863n1FN\" data-secret=\"qT9863n1FN\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Central Bank leadership is selected via the sectarian power-sharing system that governs other top posts in Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Governor is a Maronite Catholic and deputies are a Shia Muslim, a Sunni Muslim, a Druze and an Armenian Catholic, all approved by the political chiefs representing their respective sects, granting those leaders significant sway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">First Vice Governor, Wassim Mansouri, was nominated by Berri, who leads the Shia Amal Movement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;Berri already backs the Finance Minister and a Financial Prosecutor. So he wants to avoid having Mansouri in the hot seat as he does not want to be seen as responsible for any further economic deterioration,&#8221; a source close to Mansouri said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mikati has called for the cabinet to meet on Thursday to discuss nominating a new governor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, has said the caretaker cabinet did not have the right to appoint one. The FPM agrees and says it wants to appoint a Christian legal overseer to administer the Central Bank.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ali Hamdan, a senior adviser to the Speaker, denied that Berri&#8217;s position was based on worries about a backlash.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;Mr. Berri is backing the appointment of a new governor to avoid the worst and because this is how it&#8217;s supposed to be. The government has the capacity to do it even as a caretaker because this is something the cabinet should take care of \u2013 not because the situation could get worse with Mansouri in charge,&#8221; Hamdan told\u00a0<i>Reuters<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Salameh&#8217;s 30 years as Governor have been\u00a0stained by recent charges\u00a0at home and abroad of embezzlement of Lebanese public funds, which he\u00a0denies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Many Lebanese blame him and the country&#8217;s ruling elite for the financial collapse, which began in 2019 following decades of corruption and profligate spending by politicians. Salameh says he has been made a scapegoat for the meltdown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Governor Riad Salameh\u2019s 30-year term at the helm of Lebanon\u2019s central bank comes to a close, Lebanese politicians are making last-minute efforts to prevent a leadership gap. The potential vacuum raises concerns about further fragmentation of the state amid the ongoing financial crisis. The political factions are split over the best course of action: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1088,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086\/revisions\/1088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}