by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSAR -- BEIRUT: The Lebanese pound had seen a significant improvement in its dollar exchange rate following an announcement last week by Saad Hariri, the leader of the Future Movement, that he is the “natural candidate” to head the next government. However, the rate jumped to over LBP8,000 to the dollar on the Lebanese black market on Thursday — having dropped by LBP1,200 over the previous two days — after President Michel Aoun announced that the binding parliamentary consultations to designate Lebanon’s new prime minister, which were scheduled for Thursday, were to be postponed for a week. Questions were raised about Aoun’s unilateral decision, and about the message he is sending to the international community and the Lebanese people, who are hopeful that the rapid installation of a new government might alleviate some of the economic and social ills that the country currently faces. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he was against postponing the consultations “even for one day.”

The leader of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Frangieh, said, “Postponing the consultations is forbidden under the circumstances the Lebanese are experiencing.” A majority of Lebanon’s parliamentary blocs had announced that they would back Hariri as the new prime minister during the parliamentary consultations. Aside from his own party, Hariri has the support of Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), the Marada Movement, and Armenian MPs, giving him a total of at least 70 votes — a clear majority among the 120 currently serving MPs. The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the Lebanese Forces will reportedly not support him. FPM leader Gebran Bassil — who is also the president’s son-in-law — launched an attack on Hariri on Tuesday, widening the political divide. However, presidential palace sources said there was “no personal reason” behind Aoun’s decision to postpone the consultations. In 2018, Aoun blocked the formation of a government led by Hariri, stipulating that Bassil had to be given a ministerial position.

by naharnet.com -- The Presidency’s press office on Tuesday noted that claims that President Michel Aoun has violated the Constitution “weaken the Lebanese position” in the border demarcation negotiations with Israel. “To date, the President has not signed or ratified any international treaty in order to agree on it with the Premier,” the office said in a statement. “Any other remarks distort the Constitution and are aimed at either misinformation or, what’s worse, weakening the Lebanese stance at the wrong moment, seeing as Lebanon is going to practical and technical negotiations over the demarcation of its maritime border to preserve its natural resources and sovereignty over every inch of its land and waters,” the office said. It added: “Enough with polemics in the era of seriousness and we direly need solidarity and national cohesion for the sake of preserving or recapturing our sovereign rights.” The Premiership had said Monday that Aoun had made a “clear and blatant violation of a constitutional text” by not coordinating with caretaker PM Hassan Diab in the formation of the team that will handle the negotiations.

BEIRUT: After decades of conflict, Lebanon and Israel are set for the first round of talks over their maritime border that runs through potentially oil- and gas-rich Mediterranean waters. The US-mediated meeting between officials from both sides will be held at the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Wednesday. This will be followed by talks on demarcating the land border. David Schenker, US undersecretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, will preside over the inaugural session of the maritime talks, according to the State Department. Beirut insists that these talks “have nothing to do with normalization” of ties with Israel. The four-member Lebanese delegation headed by air force Brig. Gen. Bassam Yassin. The three other members are navy Col. Mazen Basbous, Lebanese oil official Wissam Chbat and border expert Najib Massihi. Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz will lead the Israeli delegation, according to Israeli officials.

 Bassil Slams Hariri's 'Bravados', Proposes Constitutional Amendment

BEIRUT, Lebanon, (UPI) - ByDalal Saoud -- - With no new government in sight to adopt reforms that would release urgently needed international aid, poverty is growing in Lebanon, with a pervasive fear that it's going to get worse. The streets are increasingly filled with beggars, mostly Syrian refugees. The minimum monthly wage has fallen to 600,000 Lebanese lira, the equivalent of $400 just a year ago, currently worth $69 at the black market rate. In August, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia estimated Lebanon's poverty rate had surged to 55 percent in May, compared to 28 percent last year. Bader Jamal el Naboulsi, a construction worker from the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood in Tripoli, has been jobless for months. "Now, I just do anything like cleaning homes and carpets or [work] as porter to raise at the end of the day 25,000 LL," which equates to $16 at the official rate and less than $3 at the black market rate, Naboulsi, a father of eight, told UPI. "Some days we sleep without food. I never beg for anything."

But his wife, Rima, is obliged to ask her neighbors for "bread, potatoes or anything they can spare" to feed her children. "I need at least 50,000 LL just to put some food on the table for my children." What the Lebanese people fear most is that the central bank will not be able to maintain the subsidy over basic commodities. What is left of its U.S. dollar reserves, estimated at $1.8 billion, barely allows it to continue subsidizing wheat, fuel and medicine at the official exchange rate of 1,507 Lebanese pound for $1, compared to LL 3,900 per U.S. dollar traded at the banks and nearly LL 8,700 in the black market. ADVERTISEMENT RELATED Lebanon's acting prime minister resigns, endangering reform Already drivers are seen queuing up at the gas stations to fill their tanks while many are touring the pharmacies to get medications that are in short supply.

by NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri has put himself forward as a potential leader in a bid to break the country’s growing political deadlock. He also began political consultations with other parties in order to revive the possibility of a successful French rescue plan on Monday. After a meeting with President Michel Aoun in the Presidential Palace, Hariri said: “We have no time to waste on political polemics. If someone wants to change the concept of the French initiative, let them bear the responsibility.” The French plan, launched by President Emmanuel Macron on Sept. 1 to help Lebanon cope with its crises, failed after Hezbollah and the Amal Movement demanded ownership of the finance portfolio and the presence of Shiite ministers in a new government. Hariri said that the government should be “formed of specialists who do not belong to parties and who will undertake specific reforms within a specific timetable, which does not exceed a few months.”

Lebanon is scheduled to begin negotiations with Israel on Wednesday to demarcate maritime borders amid an absence of government in the country, which is enduring one of its worst economic and financial crises to date. President Aoun said he “wants to form a new government as soon as possible, because the situation no longer tolerates further deterioration.” Aoun also urged “the necessity of adhering to the French initiative.” In a statement, Hariri said the consultations, which also included meetings with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and other former prime ministers, were designed to “float Macron’s initiative.” He added that the French plan “is the only and last opportunity to stop the collapse and rebuild what was destroyed by the Beirut Port explosion.”