Date: Apr 23, 2020 Source: The Daily Star Lebanon to extend nationwide lockdown until May 10 Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star BEIRUT: The Cabinet is set Friday to extend the nationwide lockdown for another two weeks while it ponders proposals to ease the shutdown measures, an official source said Wednesday. The Cabinet will act on a recommendation from the Higher Defense Council which is slated to meet at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Baabda Palace ahead of a Cabinet session, the official said. “The Higher Defense Council is headed toward proposing a two-week extension of the general mobilization period, which expires on April 26, until May 10. The Cabinet will meet after the Defense Council’s meeting to approve the two-week-extension recommendation,” the official source told The Daily Star. Also, at the Defense Council’s recommendation, the Cabinet will discuss proposals on easing the shutdown measures in some vital sectors, the source said. It will be the third extension of the state of “general mobilization,” which was declared by the Cabinet March 15, in the latest bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far infected 682 people and killed 22 since the first virus case was reported on Feb. 21. Greatly concerned that the coronavirus pandemic would return and spread aggressively, the Cabinet on April 9 extended the nationwide lockdown until April 26, while vowing to tighten preventive measures to stem the disease. On March 26, the Cabinet, declaring that Lebanon was in “extreme danger” due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, endorsed a two-week extension of the nationwide lockdown until April 12, while also ordering the general closure of institutions and supermarkets from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. with a few exceptions. A curfew was also implemented, banning citizens from being outdoors during these times. However, encouraged by the decline in the number of people infected with the coronavirus over the past few days, a result of the stringent lockdown measures, Interior Minister Mohammad Fahmi this week eased the curfew making it from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. Security forces began early this month implementing toughened measures imposed by the Interior Ministry designed to curb the movement of vehicles and counter coronavirus’ spread. The new rules would allow motorists to use their vehicles only on alternating weekdays based on whether their license plates end with odd or even digits, while the use of vehicles is prohibited Sundays. The “general mobilization” measures called, among other things, for the closure of Rafik Hariri International Airport, seaports and land borders, as well as public and private institutions, schools, universities, restaurants, bars and nightclubs and for citizens to stay at home and avoid gatherings in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The Cabinet, which will meet under President Michel Aoun, will also follow up on discussions of the draft economic and financial rescue plan, the official source said. The leaked economic rescue plan has sparked nationwide popular and political opposition for planning to target bank deposits, including a potential haircut. On the second day of Parliament’s legislative session Wednesday, Prime Minister Hassan Diab was grilled by a number MPs over the delay in endorsing the Cabinet’s plan to carry out long-delayed reforms and rescue the country’s ailing economy. MP Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement’s parliamentary Strong Lebanon bloc, and MP George Adwan from the Lebanese Forces’ parliamentary Strong Republic bloc, urged Diab to accelerate the economic plan. Adwan underlined the “need for a comprehensive economic plan” while Parliament holds legislative sessions. “Let them give us a complete and indivisible plan,” he said. Responding to MPs’ attacks on his government, Diab told reporters after attending the morning session at the UNESCO Palace: “The [attacks] are expected within the political game. I hope that these political attacks will not affect social or food security.” Asked about the economic rescue plan, Diab said: “We were working on this plan on the basis of finishing it in the Cabinet by the weekend. After we set this goal, we were informed that there would be parliamentary sessions, which delayed [the plan] until next week.” In what appeared to be a criticism of Parliament for failing to endorse draft laws presented by the government, Diab said: “We put forward 10 draft laws to Parliament. Five made their way into the general assembly and five went to committees, particularly the draft law on lifting banking secrecy ... We had hoped it would be discussed alongside other draft laws on lifting banking secrecy because our law is more detailed and precise, but the response was that it would be discussed in committees.” Diab’s remarks drew a quick response from Parliament’s General Secretariat, which said in a statement: “The government must learn how to send draft laws to Parliament before criticizing it.” The U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis Wednesday met with Diab at the Grand Serail, discussing the financial plan, the state-run National News Agency reported. Kubis, on behalf of the United Nations, has long pressed the Lebanese government to move forward with implementing a string of economic and financial reforms. The government’s economic rescue blueprint has come under fire from officials on both sides of the political fence, including top Muslim and Christian religious leaders, for targeting depositors’ money even before being endorsed by the Cabinet and Parliament. In the face of mounting opposition, Diab has denied reports of a haircut and sought to reassure the Lebanese, saying that 98 percent of depositors would not be affected by the plan. The blueprint, seen essential to encouraging the international community to extend desperately needed financial aid to the cash-strapped country, has jolted Lebanon, which is already struggling with the crippling economic and financial crisis, the worst in decades. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt, who has accused the government of preparing for a “political and financial coup” to take over the country, Wednesday assailed Parliament for failing to endorse draft laws on reforms. “Everyday it appears that the country is governed by a black operations room that rejects any reform and has its own plans for further impoverishment and further domination,” Joumblatt tweeted. “It looks as if the building of a tunnel between Beirut and the Bekaa is more important than reforming and modernizing the electricity sector and halting the [budget] deficit. With regard to negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, it is forbidden in order to facilitate the control of what remains of Lebanon,” he added.