BEIRUT, 25 November 2006 — A two-day shutdown closed Lebanese banks and many businesses yesterday as protests over the assassination of anti-Syrian minister Pierre Gemayel rolled on, adding an economic dimension to the political crisis.
The bosses’ groups which ordered the action for the day after the minister’s mass funeral said they were determined to put an end to the political crisis between pro- and anti-Damascus forces that was damaging their businesses.
But the new closure, hot on the heels of the official mourning declared after the Christian industry minister’s murder on Tuesday, marked a fresh blow for an economy still reeling from Israel’s devastating summer offensive and drew criticism from some businessmen.
The shutdown affected virtually the whole of big business from manufacturing to insurance to shipping and tourism, although shopkeepers, government offices and state-run utilities were unaffected.
Staff turned up at a few firms as normal, oblivious to the hastily organized shutdown.
“This shutdown is aimed at making our voices heard by those who have targeted Lebanon and to challenge criminality and division,” business chiefs said in a statement, adding that they would meet again to consider further action tomorrow.
The bosses said they wanted the restoration of the broad coalition, including ministers from Hezbollah, that was installed after last summer’s elections, and an end to the protests and counterprotests that have rocked the country.
They also called for a resumption of parliamentary sessions to approve pressing legislation, notably the UN blueprint for an international tribunal to try the 2005 murder of anti-Syrian former Premier Rafik Hariri.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has called an emergency Cabinet meeting for today to discuss the plan approved by the Security Council hours after Gemayel’s murder ahead of its submission to Parliament.
The blueprint still has to be approved and ratified by Lebanon and is another issue that divides the pro-Western government and Syria’s allies, who include President Emile Lahoud and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Berri’s support is essential if the draft is to be put on the parliamentary agenda. Whether or not the constitution requires the plans to be ratified by the pro-Syrian president is a matter of debate between the two sides.
The anti-Syrian government, which had been left on a knife-edge by Gemayel’s murder and the earlier withdrawal of six pro-Damascus ministers, received a boost yesterday with the return of fellow Syria critic Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa.
Down to just 17 ministers from an original 24, it had barely mustered the statutory quorum stipulated by the constitution but the extra minister now gives it an additional buffer.
Sabaa had tendered his resignation after bloody February riots by Muslims in a Christian neighborhood of Beirut but it had never been formally accepted by the premier.
The minister said he had changed his mind “in view of the delicate political situation in Lebanon which requires the national interest to be put above any other political or personal consideration.”
Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies pulled their six ministers out of the government nearly two weeks ago after cross-party talks failed to reach agreement on its demand for a national unity government embracing allied factions currently in opposition.
The governing coalition dismissed their resignations as a ploy to prevent progress on the formation of the international tribunal at the behest of their Syrian backers, who have been implicated in Hariri’s murder by a UN inquiry.
The political crisis and the strikes and closures of recent months have come as a huge blow to an economy that suffered estimated losses of $5.5 billion as a result of the July-August war between Israel and Hezbollah and some businessmen voiced opposition to the new shutdown.
“We can’t continue shutting our businesses for five days,” said Nabih Shabaan, who runs an import-export business.
“If we continue like this, we will go bust.” Fred Seikali, managing director of Fidelity Insurance, said: “We can’t stop communicating with the world, we need to be at work.” Meanwhile, Hezbollah will take to the streets next week to try to topple the government, political sources said yesterday, in a move that would further stoke tension.
“We are heading for a confrontation,” a senior political source close to the opposition said. “The room for a political solution is very, very tight. There is no room other than going to the street,” he said.
The mood in Lebanon is already volatile.
Hundreds of angry protesters took to the streets in a Beirut suburb on Thursday to protest at what they said were insults against Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the funeral of Gemayel.
Nasrallah himself had to appeal for the protesters to disperse before the late-night demonstrations ended peacefully.
