Collective Action

Dozens of protesters gathered in Downtown Beirut to voice their objections to the capital control bill that was being discussed in a joint parliamentary committee meeting. The activist group Cry of the Depositors called for the mobilization. The committee session ended without the bill being referred to Parliament for a full vote. Discussions will resume next Tuesday. 

The protesters assembled in the street as Lebanese Forces MP and the president of the parliamentary Administration and Justice Committee, Georges Adwan, arrived at the scene, making his way to the chamber. “You are thieves! Shame on you!” angry protesters heckled. One of the citizens, armed with a megaphone, tried to calm the situation. Adwan was then able to go into Parliament, the army blocking the access of demonstrators to one of the streets leading to the building where parliamentary committees meet.

The collective Cry of the Depositors called for this mobilization by denouncing the capital control law as a “death penalty for depositors.” On Monday, The head of the depositors’ union and the Association of Depositors in Lebanon Hassan Moghnieh warned the political class against the approval of the latest version of the capital control bill, condemning the legislation which he said gives “carte blanche to banks and Banque du Liban.” He also expressed his disdain for the current version of this law, saying it “should not be approved without distributing the losses, unifying the exchange rate and restructuring the banks,” calling on professionals in the sector to announce a strike for next week.