Beirut: Lebanon has long faced political and security challenges regarding confining arms in the country, which is an essential pillar for reinforcing internal stability and implementing international resolutions. After electing President Joseph Aoun earlier this year - ending more than a two-year vacancy - the president reaffirmed his commitment to addressing the issues of weapons through "calm and responsible dialogue" to maintain peace throughout the country. According to Kuwait News Agency, these efforts are part of the comprehensive economic reforms pledged by the Lebanese government in response to demands from the international community and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This includes restructuring the financial system and lifting banking secrecy, a measure approved in a late Thursday session by the Parliament. The session also addressed plans for economic revival as the country has been in a deep economic crisis since 2019. These reforms are a crucial condition to revive Lebanon's ties with t he international community and restore trust in its official institutions, especially after the latest Israeli occupation attacks on vital sectors across the country. Lebanese officials stressed that achieving economic stability is impossible without stable political and security conditions. Meanwhile, Dr. Mona Al-Bacha, Director of the Faculty of Law, Political and Management Science at the Lebanese University, told KUNA that President Aoun was handling the arm control matter calmly and responsibly. She pointed out that disarming is viewed as a prerequisite for the Israeli occupation withdrawal from still-occupied areas in southern Lebanon, according to its public statement. Dr. Al-Bacha highlighted the internal and external pressures to disarm. Internal efforts are pushing for disarmament within a defined timeline, while external forces insist on expediting the process, especially as the Israeli occupation ties its full withdrawal from the Litani Rivers to dismantling the military capabilities there. The presidency is seeking a balance between international demands calling for confinement of arms to official agencies while maintaining a calm dialogue to avoid any future internal conflicts, she added. Al-Bacha stressed that supporting Lebanon's economic recovery efforts after the recent war is linked to implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 and extending state authority across the country. She further noted that donors and supporting countries are reluctant to disburse funds without resolving the arms issues. Internationally, the recent diplomatic mission of the Lebanese ministers of finance and economy to Washington sought to strengthen the reform track. International financial institutions reiterated that Lebanon's fulfillment of its reforms is essential to restoring global trust and unlocking support channels. Jassem Ajaka, a former adviser to the Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade and currently a professor at the Lebanese University, stated to KUNA that it is evident from inter national officials' statements that Lebanon would not secure external financial aid without meeting strict conditions from the IMF. Ajaka explained that the international community imposed two main conditions: political and economic-financial-legal. The political condition involves extending state authority across the entire territory and confining arms to the official military and security forces. The economic-financial-legal conditions involve reforming developing countries through loans by the IMF and World Bank, known as the "Washington Consensus." He recalled that in 2021, the IMF stressed that Lebanon was facing "unprecedented challenges" necessitating four comprehensive reform plans, including addressing governance deviancies, implementing fiscal strategies, pursuing comprehensive restructuring of the financial sector, and reforming the exchange rate system. He explained that these four points represent an essential gateway to entering the fund's program and are considered prerequisites for any agree ment with Lebanon. Meeting the IMF's requirements would lead Lebanon to secure full support under the "Washington Consensus," a set of ten economic policy prescriptions considered in the 1980s and 1990s as the "standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by the IMF, the World Bank, and the United States Department of the Treasury. Dr. Ajaka concluded that Lebanon, given its current economic situation, remains far from reaching any significant agreement to the full IMF programs, noting that signing another staff-level agreement (SLA) is not ruled out. Lebanese experts predict that the upcoming phase of the country would be filled with political dialogue and legislative efforts to pass internationally requested laws to build a solid foundation for Lebanon's gradual recovery and transition toward sustainable stability.
