Antoun Al Fata - "Akhbar al Yawm"

It is truly unfortunate that we are slowly positioning ourselves in the position of the country closest to being an isolated island on the globe, in every sense of the word.

As the authoritarian components in Lebanon are immersed in the proclamation of victories, work must begin quickly to form a new government, of a "crisis cell" capable of making plans in anticipation of the crises to come in Lebanon.

We are a geographical point in this world. If we don't feel the effects of climate change on us now, there's no confirmation that we won't start feeling the effects tomorrow, or in a week, or maybe a month, in a country that's plunged into poverty. and low food security.

What is the advantage of a government, "stuffed" with ministers of state, except in terms of fulfilling some of the political quotas of this or that team, at the table of the Cabinet?

Economist Dr Louis Hobeika called for "the need to first accelerate the formation of a government, because things are not easy at this level, as it seems".

"We need ministers who have the necessary expertise to deal with the crises the world is going through," he told Akhbar Al Yawm  agency. But it is still far from achieving this, in a context of clear rejection of technocratic ministers by certain political circles. Any government, if formed, will be hard pressed to be more than quota-sharing, amidst efforts to pull a major political string there, in order to obtain from certain parties the most important portfolios, especially if the The goal is to get them to take charge of the situation in a presidential vacuum that some say may begin months from now. This means that the next stage will not be an era of achievements, but an era of quotas. "

“The main hope is that the change MPs, together with about 15 new MPs from the parties, can succeed in bringing a qualitative change to the political debate, which takes the country away from personality and interests, and helps to make a qualitative change," Hobeika said.

"Future concerns are not about hunger, but about the still low standard of living in the country. Lebanon is an open country, and the Lebanese have always managed to manage its affairs, and expats are sending dollars and aid to their families. Therefore, we will not reach the limit of deaths due to lack of food".

"A country like Egypt, with enormous annual population growth, is more vulnerable than us to a food crisis, especially since most of its central areas are desert and it is the largest importer of wheat in the world. But the situation in Lebanon is different, where there is not such a rapid population density and where the food basket can decrease without affecting real hunger," he said.

"The main Lebanese problem is that we live under the domination of an authority, which does not have the mentality of the state, but simply shares the board of directors of a company"Hobeika concluded.