▶ Opinion,

▶ Lebanon’s leaders need to respond to global support by embracing sweeping reforms

The international community has rallied around Lebanon in the immediate aftermath of the explosions at Beirut’s port that rocked the city, killing more than 130 people and injuring thousands more.

On Wednesday, a plane flew from Dubai carrying 43 tonnes of medical equipment, supplied by the World Health Organisation and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The UAE also sent tens of millions of dirhams worth of aid on Thursday, as President Sheikh Khalifa donated 12 tonnes of protective equipment to protect against Covid-19. Aircraft carrying emergency aid and rescue personnel arrived from Jordan, France and the US as well, with French President Emmanuel Macron arriving in Beirut less than 48 hours after the tragedy.

The show of force and grace is inspiring at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has plunged the global economy into a deep recession.

It ought to give Beirut’s ruling class pause, as they weigh their options on the path forward for a country brought to its knees by corruption and administrative incompetence, even before the port tragedy and the pandemic.

The complex mess in which Lebanon is caught is so wide and so deep that since October the public has been out on the streets demanding wholesale changes to the country’s political and economic systems. Protesters’ anger is directed squarely at the country’s ruling class.

The fury is justified, given that Lebanese people must deal with daily, hours-longpower cuts, rubbish left uncollected on the streets, the collapse of the their currency and rampant inflation. Tuesday’s blast has also added food insecurity to their worries – the country’s main grain silo was destroyed, leaving Lebanon with less than a month’s reserves. It also rendered 300,000 Beirutis homeless. Lebanon, according to one government adviser, will need to spend at least $15 billion to complete repairs.

While the aid deliveries now under way will be critical for a city trying to get back on its feet, it is not a bail-out for the political system, and it will not be nearly enough for the country to sustain itself.

For Lebanon to recover, its so-called unity government will need to enact reform. It has so far resisted doing so, even though those reforms are a condition for it to receive economic assistance from the International Monetary Fund, because that would mean putting an end to its decades-long nepotism.

The government’s inability to bring about change is also attributable to the domination within its ranks of the Iranbacked Hezbollah, which views the IMF proposal with suspicion, as the proposed reforms undermine its own interests and standing in the country.

Tuesday’s tragedy, however, should serve as a wake-up call to Beirut’s leaders. They must now see what the path to national prosperity looks like.

“Lebanon is not alone,” Mr Macron said upon his arrival in Beirut. It is a much-needed reminder for a country whose people have suffered far too much.