Officials have threatened to take action against media managers and male guardians of presenters who don't comply with the rules
MENA1 week ago
Lebanese activists on Friday rolled out mock banknotes featuring paintings of a gutted central bank or the Beirut port explosion to denounce high-level corruption that has helped to wreck the country.
The collapse of the Lebanese pound and frozen bank accounts have left Lebanon with a confusing currency system, with a multitude of exchange rates applying to various situations in daily life.
The dollars stuck in accounts that citizens can only withdraw in Lebanese pounds at a fraction of their original value are known locally as “lollars”.
With parliamentary elections two days away, the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) decided to take the joke to the streets, with a stunt encouraging people to use “lollars” for the day.
The “monetary disobedience” campaign, entitled “Currency of Corruption”, encourages people to print their own “funny money” at home and try to use it as a means of raising awareness.
“We will not adapt to this mockery anymore, we are #NotPayingThePrice,” the LTA said in a statement unveiling the campaign and its hashtag.
The mock banknotes feature paintings by acclaimed Lebanon-based artist Tom Young depicting calamities that have hit Lebanon in recent years, from the deadly August 2020 port blast to forest fires, solid waste pollution and shortages.
On one of Beirut’s main squares on Friday, organisers installed a fake ATM from which passers-by could withdraw “lollars”.
ALSO READ:
LTA communications officer Hazar Assi said the campaign was aimed at reminding voters that their current plight was to blame on the country’s corrupt hereditary leaders.
“When people vote, they should make a choice based on accountability and rejecting the corruption that is affecting all of our lives,” she said.
Lebanon’s traditional parties will seek to extend their stranglehold on power in parliamentary elections on Sunday but a new generation of independent candidates are hoping for a breakthrough.
Officials have threatened to take action against media managers and male guardians of presenters who don't comply with the rules
MENA1 week ago
Some channels have already begun implementing the new rule
MENA1 week ago
Full results after election reveal that no bloc will control the 128-seat assembly
MENA1 week ago
Breakthrough reflects public anger at the country's financial collapse
MENA1 week ago
Final results yet to emerge as votes are still being counted
MENA1 week ago
Hundreds of people across Baghdad, southern cities went to hospitals with breathing difficulties
MENA1 week ago
The current election is the first since Lebanon's devastating economic meltdown in 2020
MENA1 week ago
New generation of independent candidates ran hoping to kindle change
MENA1 week ago