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The upcoming Council of Ministers, set for Tuesday at 9 AM, is highly anticipated, with tensions rising.
As early as Sunday, retired military personnel issued a stern warning, threatening to block the government meeting if a revision of their salaries is not given priority on the agenda. They are calling for a permanent solution through legislation, rejecting the temporary social assistance and provisional bonuses the government has offered thus far.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced on Friday that the session would be held at the Grand Serail in two phases. The first part, beginning at 9 AM, will focus on discussing the report from caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil on the 2025 budget draft, alongside an agenda that has yet to be disclosed. By Monday, additional items unrelated to routine matters were added to the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting.
The session will then reconvene at 3:30 PM to continue examining the draft budget law for the upcoming year.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed his “surprise at the escalation announced by retired military personnel” in a statement released on Monday afternoon. He criticized their “hasty decision,” as “the examination of the proposed budget has not yet begun.”
In response to the military’s demands, Mikati proposed new “temporary measures, pending Parliament’s approval of the draft budget.”
In doing so, the prime minister effectively asks these veterans, like many other Lebanese citizens, to endure more patience despite their salaries having plummeted to just $220 in recent years.
The retired military personnel swiftly countered, urging Mikati to take a bold step: cancel Tuesday’s session and instead hold a meeting with them to find an “adequate solution” to their concerns. They also reminded the government of its many unfulfilled promises, which they claim have been mired in delays and endless procrastination.
Retired military personnel are not the only ones demanding a lasting solution to the salary devaluation issue. Public sector contract teachers are also focusing on Tuesday’s ministerial session, calling for the crisis in public education to be addressed. In a statement issued on Sunday, the Committee of Contractual Teachers in the Public Sector urged Mikati to “save the public education sector from collapse.”
Among the eleven additional items added to the agenda on Monday, some are seen as potential ticking time bombs, such as the possible removal of subsidies on bread and wheat or the hike in stamp prices. These measures are troubling to many Lebanese, who have been struggling to make ends meet since the onset of the crisis and now feel helpless as the government continues to impose new financial burdens without implementing the necessary reforms for recovery.
The standoff continues, especially after Mikati made it clear in his statement that he would not allow protesters to prevent the Council of Ministers from convening. He has instructed security forces to take the necessary measures to “ensure the meeting takes place, while safeguarding the right to freedom of expression and democratic protest.”
All eyes are on Tuesday as the outcome of this standoff unfolds.
