Najia Houssari

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament sat in a conference hall on Tuesday to allow for social distancing between lawmakers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As lawmakers wearing face masks and medical gloves arrived at the hall, known as the UNESCO palace, paramedics sprayed them with disinfectant before they filed in one at a time.

The staggered three-day session is the first by parliament since Lebanon imposed a lockdown more than a month ago to limit the spread of the virus.

The parliament’s sessions were suspended on Jan. 27 and were allocated for the adoption of the 2020 budget, followed by a session on Feb. 11 to debate a vote of confidence for Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s cabinet.

The agenda included proposals for the formation of the National Anti-Corruption Authority, and the approval of a series of loans, including loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

The parliament passed the law allowing cannabis cultivation for medical purposes, meaning that hashish cultivation is legal from now on in Lebanon.

The parliament also approved lifting immunity for ministers and lawmakers to allow prosecutions over alleged corruption, as well as a law on authorizing the government to build a tunnel connecting the capital to Bekaa.

Baalbek-Hermel MP Al-Waleed Sukkarieh told Arab News: “The importance of the tunnel is that it connects Beirut’s port directly to the Lebanese border with Arab countries, eases the population exodus from Bekaa to Beirut and revives the Bekaa region economically,” he said.

The parliament also passed a loan agreement with the IBRD to implement a project that aims to strengthen Lebanon’s health system.

The parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, announced the removal from the agenda of a draft loan agreement to establish a land system modernization project “because the IBRD has withdrawn its loan.”

The session, which resumed two hours before the daily curfew to curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, did not prevent civil activists from resuming their protests.

Dozens of protesters drove a noisy convoy of cars covered in slogans, with drivers honking their horns and passengers brandishing the national flag and leaning out of windows in face masks. They defied a stay-at-home order to protest about living conditions and to maintain pressure on a political elite under fire since mass protests erupted last October.

The protesters renewed their demand for “the departure of the corrupted power, the recovery of looted money and the accountability of those who bankrupted the state.”

They said the protest was a rehearsal of a return to the streets when the coronavirus crisis ends.

Diab’s government, which has not completed its third month in power, is facing a worsening economic situation, exacerbated by the closure of schools, universities and institutions on Feb. 29.

The number of poor people increased and the purchasing power of the Lebanese decreased as the dollar recorded a historic price of 3,250 Lebanese pounds on Tuesday. Banks have stopped providing people with any money from their accounts in dollars. On Tuesday, a resident of the Bekaa town of Bednayel tried to set himself on fire because the bank refused to give him his deposited funds, and a number of his supporters intervened and smashed the bank’s facade in solidarity.

There are indications that many institutions and establishments that have closed their doors may not be able to reopen again.

On a tour of Beirut markets, Arab News was able to monitor a number of shops and cafes that have been permanently emptied of their contents in preparation for their final closure.

The daily report issued by the Ministry of Health confirmed that no new COVID-19 cases had been reported for the first time since the initial case of the new coronavirus was detected on Feb. 21 in Lebanon.