Lebanese Parliament recommends forensic audit of all state institutions
Civic activists hold Hezbollah responsible for the collapse of the state
The Lebanese Parliament discussed on Friday a letter from President Michel Aoun requesting assistance in the forensic audit of the Banque du Liban’s accounts.
The request overthrew the contract that the Lebanese government signed with the restructuring consultancy Alvarez & Marsal to conduct an audit of the central bank’s accounts. This is because the Banque du Liban is reluctant to provide information to the firm as it contradicts the Monetary and Credit Law and banking secrecy law.
At the end of the session, members of Parliament endorsed a recommendation that “the accounts of the Banque du Liban, ministries, independent interests, councils, financial institutions, municipalities and all funds undergo a forensic audit in parallel without any hindrances and without invoking banking secrecy or anything else.” The debate in the UNESCO hall reflected a division between the parliamentary blocs. The Progressive Socialist Party, the Amal Movement, and the Future blocs supported “a comprehensive audit of all institutions,” while the MPs of the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces insisted on “auditing the accounts of the Banque du Liban first.”
The division was reflected in two bills, one of which was submitted by the Lebanese Forces bloc, suspending the banking secrecy law for one year, to be effective from the date of publication of this law in all matters related to financial audits and/or criminal investigations decided by the government on the accounts of the Banque du Liban. The bill of the Amal Movement MPs expands the scope of the forensic audit to include “all ministries, institutions, departments, funds, and councils without exception, discretion, changeability or maliciousness.” The Hezbollah bloc appeared to be the most embarrassed bloc among its two allies, the Amal Movement and the Free Patriotic Movement. The head of the bloc, MP Mohammad
Raad, said during the session: “We support the forensic audit of the Banque du Liban, and we agree that the audit will be conducted in all public institutions, and we propose to endorse the temporary suspension of banking secrecy.” MP Wael Abou Faour said after the session: “President Aoun tried to hold Parliament responsible for the failure to conduct a criminal investigation, and Parliament responded by endorsing the recommendation to audit all state departments without exception.”
The Free Patriotic Movement opposed auditing the accounts of the Energy Ministry, which bears half of the country’s public debt. It insisted on auditing the accounts of the central bank. Secretary of the Strong Lebanon bloc, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, said: “The people of Lebanon have the right to know the fate of their deposits.”