Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salameh during a press conference in Beirut, with a photo from Reuters archive. reuters_tickers
This content was published on Jul 10, 2023 – 16:41 Jul, Jul 10, 2023 – 16:41
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office said on Monday it will not extend the current central bank governor, Riad Salameh, in his position when his term ends later this month.
Salameh’s term ends on July 31. Salameh’s accusations at home and abroad of embezzling public funds cast a shadow over his 30-year tenure. Salama denies the charges against him.
Mikati’s office said in a statement sent to Reuters that the position has a law stipulating that the first deputy governor will assume the functions of the ruler until a new ruler is appointed.
He added, “The law does not provide for a vacuum, and institutions complete their work through the first deputy governor and the remaining deputies.”
“The most important thing is that there is no vacancy in the Central Bank, because it is the financial nerve of the country,” the statement said.
One of the four deputy governors of the Banque du Liban had told Reuters that they were considering resigning together if a successor was not appointed, which raises the possibility of a vacancy in the position of governor amid a deep financial crisis.
His Excellency Al-Shami, the Deputy Prime Minister, told Reuters last week that such a threat was “very serious” and that the governor’s deputies should “assume their responsibility in the event that this appointment is not possible.”
Efforts to find a successor to Salameh are complicated by the collapse of the ruling regimes and the escalation of political tension in the country. The country’s president usually appoints the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, but the House of Representatives (parliament) has not yet elected a successor to former President Michel Aoun, whose term of office ended in late October.
“Necessities make things permissible,” Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a longtime Salame supporter, told reporters Monday, suggesting that the caretaker government should appoint a governor for the bank.
However, he added, “I will respect what the prime minister announced in this regard, in terms of neither appointment nor extension.”
Many Lebanese hold Salameh and the long-standing ruling elite responsible for Lebanon’s financial collapse. Salameh says he is a scapegoat for this collapse that followed decades of corruption and wasteful spending by politicians.
For years, Salameh remained very close to power. Mikati defended Salameh in late 2021, saying that Salameh should remain in his position even as investigations began against him for illicit gains. He added that no one changes his officers during the war.
Recently, however, Salameh appears to be increasingly isolated.
(Covering by Maya Al-Jubaili, prepared by Muhammad Ali Farag for the Arabic Bulletin, edited by Muhammad Muhammadin)
2023-07-10 14:41:25
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