The political body of the Free Patriotic Movement held its usual meeting headed by MP Gebran Bassil, and after discussing the agenda items, it issued the following statement:
The Commission expressed its possible understanding of the government’s inability to find solutions to the major problems it pledged to address in its ministerial statement, especially the issue of arms exclusivity, but it stressed that what cannot be justified, as stated in the statement, is the government’s failure to protect citizens’ livelihoods. She inquired about who would convey to the government the people’s suffering due to the deterioration of their incomes before the end of the month, and the rise in their voices as a result of their inability to bear the costs of university and school education, hospitalization, transportation, and food.
Regarding the economic aspect, the authority confirmed that the appeal submitted by the “Strong Lebanon” bloc last week against the decision to raise the price of gasoline is not limited to being in violation of the laws, but also aims to preserve the purchasing power of citizens, considering that the government has attacked people’s money, while it was supposed to be looking for other sources of income, such as recovering funds transferred abroad, activating electronic invoicing, and improving collection operations, measures that it confirmed are sufficient to provide the necessary resources for the military, professors, and public sector employees.
The statement explained that citizens know that the decision to increase the price of gasoline would not have been made without the approval and signature of the Minister of Energy and Water, Joe Seddi, considering that any oppositional or populist statements issued by his political team in the media are considered an insult to the mind and cannot deceive anyone.
