The week ends on a rare and confusing situation that Lebanon has not witnessed before: How can the Governor of Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, be pushed to resign, or a government decision to dismiss him after Lebanon received an international Interpol warrant in a red notice requesting his immediate arrest.
This article was originally published in and translated from Lebanese newspaper Nidaa al-Watan.
Salameh repeated his claim of innocence, and that he will continue in his position until the end of his term. However, sources told Nidaa al-Watan that the weekend will be full of vigorous and intense direct and indirect discussions with Salameh to push him to resign with a promise of commitment not to extradite him to France and to facilitate matters of investigation with him locally.
This provided that the judicial order ends fast by acknowledging that what he is accused of from embezzlement of commissions will be dropped, with it being clear that these commissions are from private, not public, funds and that they are in exchange for legitimate fees.
The sources add that if Salameh cannot be persuaded to resign, the matter will be presented to the Council of Ministers on Monday to take the appropriate decision destined for his dismissal.
This dismissal requires a request by Finance Minister Youssef Khalil and the consensus of those attending, including a minister close to the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Walid Nassar.
Thus, the “ball is in Berri's wild court” because Mikati, according to his sources, cannot bear the pressure, and he is with the dismissal, according to what was reported by the ministers affiliated with him and close to him, such as Saadeh Al-Shami and Bassam Mawlawi.
The information circulating shows that the Speaker of Parliament is primarily concerned with instructing Minister Khalil to formulate the request to the Council of Ministers, just as he is concerned with accepting the first deputy governor of Banque du Liban, Wassim Mansouri, to take over the governorship duties if it is impossible to appoint a governor to replace Salameh.
Noting that Hezbollah opposes the appointment and accepts handing over Mansouri the task.
Likewise, Minister Nassar, who oscillates between the FPM and his closeness to Mikati, will likely attend to complete the required quorum.
Consequently, the “fireball” of Salameh’s dismissal rolls to fall into Speaker Berri hands, who has always defended the governor, prevented his dismissal during the days of Hassan Diab’s government, and relied on him to control the exchange rate of the Lebanese lira, and in repeated statements during the crisis.
Regarding the Lebanese lira, monetary and banking sources do not rule out discussing this with Salameh because he is the most capable, in the opinion of the parties in the system, of continuing the current stability of the exchange rate and the impossible must be done so as not to “judge” Salameh for fear of unleashing speculation and the return of the US dollar to skyrocketing heights this time.
The same sources indicated that the exchange rate remained stable despite the circulation of one of the most dangerous news on an international scale, i.e., a request to arrest the Governor of Banque du Liban, which means that only he is now capable of that control, with a question hesitating about using this “weapon” to impose the safety of his conditions in the appropriate exits.
As for the Judiciary, and after the red notice reached the Cassation Public Prosecutor Ghassan Oweidat, the latter became compelled to summon Salameh, claiming that the Lebanese investigation had been completed, to justify the failure to extradite the wanted person to France.
However, legal sources do not exclude that the local judiciary is waiting for the political “password” and proceeding according to it, which puts several judges under the international microscope and may open the door to accusing them of conspiracy and obstruction of justice.