BEIRUT: Beirut’s Traders Association said Tuesday it was gearing up for a nationwide strike to protest against the governmental vacuum that has rattled business across the country.
The comments came during an emergency meeting convened by the traders association at Beirut’s Chamber of Commerce.
“We want to remind [public servants] that we are the cornerstone of the national economy, and the safety valve that brings together Lebanese society … and if we rise up then all of Lebanon and its families will rise up too,” said Nicholas Chammas, president of the association.
Trading facilities across the country will shut their doors for a day when the association calls for the strike, the date of which was not specified.
The group claims that business has been forced to scale back its operations by 30 percent across all sectors due to the governmental vacuum, chastising the political class for stalled government formation efforts, and for an apparent disregard for the vacuum’s economic repercussions.
Lebanon has been without a fully functioning Cabinet since the resignation of 11 ministers in January, which forced the collapse of government.
Ministers have since then taken on a caretaker status, something that greatly restricts their powers and freezes major decision-making, which has spelled paralysis for much of the economy.
Various international government agencies, such as the IMF and the IIF, project GDP growth in Lebanon to be as low as 2 percent. Initial projections announced at the end of last year put that figure at around 6 percent.
Most sectors are said to have been adversely affected by the political insecurity, including tourism and services, major drivers of economic growth in Lebanon.
In addition to calling for immediate Cabinet formation, the Beirut Traders Association is also pushing politicians to declare “a state of social and economic emergency,” so that expedited action can be taken to combat “all the sources of our decaying conditions.”