Corruption in Lebanon (Arabic: الفساد في لبنان) is magnified after the end of the civil war in 1990. It is analysed as a case of post-conflict corruption.[1] Once a taboo subject, now it is at the forefront of the public debate in Lebanon.[2] Anti-corruption sentiment has been one of the driving forces behind many of the large scale Lebanese protests in recent history.

Extent

Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, which scored 180 countries on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"), gave Lebanon a score of 24. When ranked by score, Lebanon ranked 150th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.[3] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the worst score was 12 (ranked 180), and the average score was 43. In [4] For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Middle Eastern and North African countries [Note 1] was 67, the lowest score was 13 and the average score was 38.[5]

According to Charles Adwan, Director of the Lebanese Transparency Association, "the extension of wartime elites into the post-war political system, a common feature in post-conflict countries, resulted in a system which removed all checks and balances and facilitated the diversion of state resources for private financial and political gain".[1] Government officials reportedly often award contracts to friends and family leading to many of the country's problems like daily power cuts. Many working class Lebanese citizens rely on economic assistance from their party which stops them from speaking up against the system or bring them to justice, despite widespread opposition.[6][7] Lebanon's government works within the framework of confessionalism, with parliamentary seats and others government positions allocated by religious confession. Many members of government have been in power since the Lebanese Civil War, with a simple shuffling of positions every election cycle. Many blame this system for the country's continued corruption.

Corruption happens on every level of society and is not strictly limited to high level officials. As in many neighboring countries, using personal family and party connections to get favors like skipping a long queue, getting into a selective institution, or finding a job; known locally as wasta; is common practice and has become the social norm. Although many believe that using wasta is understandable for each individual case as institutions are often inefficient without it, it is also agreed upon that the social phenomenon deepens economic inequality.[8]

Public reaction and opposition

Anti-corruption sentiment has been one of the driving forces behind many of the large scale Lebanese protests in recent history. Notably the 2015–2016 Lebanese protests sparked by the closure of a waste dump without a plan which triggered a "garbage crisis"[9] and the 2019–2020 Lebanese protests sparked by an increase in taxes[10][11]

Many anti-system parties run on an anti-corruption platforms, most notably Beirut Madinati, which ran during the 2016 Beirut municipal election.[12] Although the party lost, it gained unprecedented traction for an outsider party in Lebanon's otherwise rigid political status quo.[13] With 40% of the votes, it forced the March 14 Alliance and the March 8 Alliance, historical opponents, to form a coalition in order to win[14]

Contaminated fuel scandal

In July 2020, Lebanese company ZR Energy was indicted, as it had imported contaminated fuel from Algerian company Sonatrach, which costed $2bn worth of fuel deliveries per year.[15][16][17]

Beirut port explosion

On 4 August 2020, an explosion at the port of Beirut killed at least 190 people, injured more than 6,500, and left an around 300,000 people homeless. The blast was caused by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored unsafely in a warehouse.[18]

Anti-corruption organizations

There are some NGO's fighting corruption in Lebanon:[19]

Notes

  1. ↑ Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen

References

  1. 1 2 Adwan, Charles (2004). "Corruption in Reconstruction: The Cost Of National Consensus in Post-War Lebanon". S2CID 155822549. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  2. ↑ Diwan, Ishac; Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim (2021-07-05). "Political Connections Reduce Job Creation: Firm-level Evidence from Lebanon". Journal of Development Studies. 57 (8): 1373–1396. doi:10.1080/00220388.2020.1849622. S2CID 229717871.
  3. ↑ "The ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated". Transparency.org. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2022: Lebanon". Transparency.org. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  5. ↑ "CPI 2022 for Middle East & North Africa: Corruption fuels ongoing conflict". Transparency.org. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  6. ↑ "Lebanon's political system leads to paralysis and corruption". The Economist. 2018.
  7. ↑ Ferguson, Jane. "Why Lebanon's People Are Turning on Their Politicians". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  8. ↑ e.V, Transparency International. "Wasta: How personal connections are denying citizens opportunities and basic services". www.transparency.org. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  9. ↑ "Protesters enforce Naameh dump closure". www.dailystar.com.lb. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  10. ↑ Barnard, Anne (2015-08-29). "Lebanese Protesters Aim for Rare Unity Against Gridlocked Government". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  11. ↑ "The rampant corruption spurring Lebanon protests". Arab News. 2020-02-29. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  12. ↑ rsaleh (2016-08-16). "Beirut Madinati". Civil Society Knowledge Centre. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  13. ↑ "Beirut Madinati vows to continue work in the capital, says won 40 pct. of votes". www.dailystar.com.lb. Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  14. ↑ "Hariri indicates clean sweep of Beirut local elections". www.dailystar.com.lb. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  15. ↑ "Two corruption cases rattle Sonatrach in Algeria and Lebanon". The Africa Report. 9 July 2020.
  16. ↑ "Sonatrach's contract to supply fuel to Lebanon ends next month, but the state has yet to find a replacement". L'Orient-Le Jour. 23 November 2020.
  17. ↑ "Lebanon: Ex-energy ministers to appear in court over tainted fuel imports". Middle East Monitor. 6 May 2020.
  18. ↑ "The unprecedented mass protests in Lebanon explained". www.amnesty.org. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  19. ↑ Mouallem, Atie Joseph El (2018-10-03). "NGO's fighting corruption in Lebanon". Medium. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  20. ↑ "LTA | Lebanese Transparency Association". www.transparency-lebanon.org. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  21. ↑ "LinkedIn Login, Sign in". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  22. ↑ "JCI Lebanon". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  23. ↑ "Lebanese Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (LALAC)". transparency-lebanon.org. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-01-13.

Bibliography

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