So Hariri has cried and left Lebanon’s politics, and the Shia suburbs cried with him

The Switzerland of the East with majestic mountains covered in green trees and snow; valleys running between them like white pearls, with rivers that dazzle the eyes and grab the hearts; magnificent legendary buildings and heritage; a country of science, culture, civilisation and urbanisation; a country of wealth, beauty and fashion; the only Arab country that enjoys freedom and democracy; and the jewel of the Arab world. This is what Lebanon was in the minds of many around the world.

That was before Iran invaded it through one of its most important regional proxies, Hezbollah, which ruined the country. Lebanon is no longer the Lebanon that the world once knew. Tourists no longer flock to there. Its economy has collapsed, and the Lebanese pound has fallen by about 95 per cent of its pre-crisis value. Lebanon is drowning in a sea of foreign debt that it can’t repay; it is bankrupt. The Lebanese people are unable to withdraw their money from the banks and spend it; they can only access a fraction of what they have on deposit. Foreign companies have decamped to Dubai, leaving Beirut as the ex-centre of world trade in the Middle East. Even the American University of Beirut, the oldest university established by America in the east, is on the verge of moving to Dubai.

In short, Lebanon is a state in complete ruin. The middle class, which was the mainstay of Lebanese society, has fallen quickly into poverty. It is the first time that we have seen Lebanese citizens queuing to buy a loaf of bread and put fuel in their cars. Fuel and gas are scarce, stolen and sent to Syria in secret ever since President Michel Aoun’s son-in-law and Hezbollah ally Gebran Bassil became Minister of Energy. This continued for some time after his time in the ministry, as the energy and finance ministries are always run by Hezbollah allies so that it can manipulate distribution to areas under the movement’s control first. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah announced that Iran would send oil tankers to Lebanon via Syria, and threatened and vowed in one of his speeches — which are as arrogant as Israeli and American speeches — that he will retaliate if the ships are attacked because of sanctions imposed on Iran. Nasrallah wanted to appear as the saviour of the country, although he is the one who pushed Lebanon into a black hole in which it is flailing with no direction. All of this is happening while Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati are watching happily, as the state within their state is doing what is needed and saving them the effort and trouble.

READ: Lebanon slips further into Iran’s orbit as Hariri bows out

I will be fair and will not blame Hezbollah alone for the economic crisis in Lebanon. I do blame the movement, though, for dragging Lebanon into regional conflicts in which it has no interest, and sending its militias to Syria and Yemen to kill Syrians and Yemenis while bragging about its “100,000” fighters. Nasrallah has also bragged about his missiles being able to reach Haifa and beyond, which is a veiled threat to the Lebanese as much as to Israel, not least because they saw with their own eyes the invasion of the Black Shirts and the storming of Beirut, Sidon and other cities on 7 May, 2008. That looked like a rehearsal for what will happen again if someone dares to ask him to disarm Hezbollah and hand its weapons over to the Lebanese army.

His strongest message to the Lebanese people is that they either accept what he dictates, or he will force them to do so, raising the spectre of another civil war. Recent events in Tayouneh and the confrontation between Hezbollah and the army, which resulted in the killing of nine people, confirms this possibility. It has also killed off the tourist trade, an important source of national revenue upon which Lebanon has depended since it was created.

Lebanon’s economic crisis is not something new; it began many years ago, as a result of the national debts accumulated by the late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, amounting to $86.2 billion according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance. This debt is likely to continue to increase, alongside the rampant corruption seen since the beginning of Hariri’s first term as prime minister in 1992, and continued under his son Saad. The family basically controlled the country’s wealth and investment projects in Lebanon, creating in the process a parasitic group of people known as the “Hariri class”. This gang-like group ruled Lebanon, while ordinary citizens suffered from the imposition of heavy taxes. Meanwhile, it was reported in the international media, notably the New York Times, that Saad Hariri gave $16 million to a South African swimwear model with whom he was said to be having a relationship, Candice van der Merwe.

Lebanon has lived in the corrupt Hariri era for thirty years, when the businessman close to Saudi Arabia became prime minister after the Taif Agreement that ended the Lebanese civil war. This era turned a page on the past and its political icons and families that had arisen since independence, such as the Karami, Hoss, Chehab, Salam, Chamoun, Al-Khoury and Frangieh families. Sectarian leadership in Lebanon is inherited and the Lebanese political system is built on the allotment of positions between faith groups and sects.

READ: World Bank berates Lebanon’s elite for ‘zombie’ economy

Now we see the Hariri house being closed by Rafic’s son Saad. He has declared that he will suspend his political life and called on his family in the Future Movement to do the same, and not stand in the parliamentary election scheduled for May, and not submit any nominations from the movement.

Saad Hariri succeeded his father on a personal and public level. On the former, he has squandered his wealth and lost all of his companies, the last of which was the Saudi Oger company, which Saudi Arabia seized because of its debts amounting to $4 billion. His home in Riyadh was also seized. Meanwhile, his sister Hind obtained two court rulings in France to seize his private plane in payment for her share from the Mediterranean Sea Bank and Saudi Oger, amounting to $80 million. He has also closed the most important and most famous TV channel in Lebanon, Al-Mustaqbal, having failed to pay salaries as his debts increased.

On the public level, Saad inherited the Future Movement, the largest and most important group for Sunni Muslims in Lebanon, which stood as a wall against Hezbollah and preserved the sectarian balance. Mistakes, catastrophic concessions and acquiescence to Hezbollah’s demands have weakened the movement. The last of these demands was the approval of Michel Aoun as president of Lebanon. Hence, most of those lamenting the departure of Saad Hariri from political life are those in the Shia strongholds of Dahieh and Ain al-Tineh because Hezbollah has lost an ally who did as he was told.

And so Saad Hariri cried as he bid farewell to his supporters. To him I say go ahead and cry. As Aisha, mother of Abu Abdallah Muhammad XII, the last king of Andalusia who handed Granada to King Ferdinand, told him: “My son, you do well to cry like a woman for what you could not defend like a man.”

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.