Frem: We want a president with a clear mission and an inclusive project, not a president by chance

February 23, 2023

Lebanese MP Neemat Frem approached the economic, financial and social crisis, as well as the possible solutions, during the "Lebanese National Conference" organized with the participation of Saint Joseph University (USJ), the Civil Impact Forum, Project Watan and MTV, in the presence of a crowd of officials, public figures and specialists.

In his intervention titled "Diagnosing the financial crisis and taking lessons to brace the future", the chairman of
Project Watan’s” Executive Board explained that we have reached the collapse because state institutions are no longer producing added value, while successive governments have chosen to accumulate budgets’ deficits and to confirm political allegiances in administrations instead of actual production.   “And the dear price was paid by the talented, productive and everyone who eats from the sweat of his brow,” he denounced.

He pointed out that the people made their decision to confront idleness and failure, to move forward and confront difficult situations by insisting on change through professional work and not by loud stances.  “Therefore, dissecting and studying the problems was required to find appropriate solutions in a professional manner, and to link the triangle represented by the economic, financial and social dilemma to the other crises within a package of integrated solutions. This is what ‘Project Watan’ has done,” he added.

Frem then tackled the path of consolidating the social contract, “as the current suffering drags us to the common space between the Lebanese, which is based on social protection, managing the financial collapse through a fair distribution of losses, preventing the bankruptcy of banks to protect the relationship between the depositors and the state - in order to recover depositors’ money on the one hand and avert Lebanon’s isolation from the international banking system on the other hand - and investing in the assets of the Lebanese state that can reproduce a sound economic cycle away from selling or privatization, to be managed transparently and expertly under supervision and control.”

“Our economy must be productive, not rentier,” he went on saying, and the productive economy is what establishes a balanced one. This means that we must practically create a social safety net that will help the citizen, through a qualified incubating environment, to endure and persevere, and to be a key partner in the rescue process.”

He also recalled that the Lebanese institutions, built by President Fouad Chehab, were based on the Civil Service Council and the Central Inspection that protect them. “We have to restore effectiveness to these two instances, instead of destroying them, and to keep the administrations away from quotas and politicization, so they would be productive again and play their role in serving citizens, not politicians,” he added.

Frem finally called to “honesty and reconciliation if we are truly ready to admit that we want to live together, to deal with the common suffering, and to find solutions to the concerns, so we can responsibly rebuild the Lebanese state and its institutions in a professional model.”

“It would be difficult, otherwise, to start rebuilding the homeland,” he said.

"The election of a president for the republic is the entryway to get rid of the failure that the political game has long wrought, and to enter a new era. Lebanon does not need a president by chance, but a president who has a clear mission and an inclusive project based on rebuilding state institutions to reshape the future for the Lebanese. And if we do not commit to electing a president and to voting for the inclusive mission and project he carries, we will be facing overwhelming chaos and uncertainties that are nowadays too close,” he concluded.