BEIRUT — They may often squabble, but
Lebanon's
political parties seem united in rejecting an investigation into Beirut's
massive port explosion that they fear could threaten their survival, analysts
say.
اضافة اعلان
The explosion of a huge stockpile of poorly stored fertilizer
on the dockside on August 4, 2020 killed more than 210 people, wounded
thousands and ravaged half the capital.
In the aftermath of mass protests in late 2019 demanding the
ouster of the traditional ruling class, many said the disaster was just the
latest example of official incompetence and corruption.
But months into a domestic investigation, no one has been
held accountable.
Politicians have repeatedly obstructed the work of judge
Tarek Bitar by refusing to show up for questioning, filing legal complaints
against him or calling for his dismissal, which last week sparked deadly
violence in the heart of Beirut.
Analyst Lina Khatib said hopes were fading of holding those
responsible for the port blast accountable.
"The ruling class in Lebanon is in agreement about
wanting the port probe to be abandoned and they will use all available means to
derail it," said Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa
program at the
Chatham House think tank.
The country's powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah has
spearheaded a campaign to remove Bitar, accusing him of political bias.
The debate over his future, which comes after the previous
investigator was removed in February, has already triggered the postponement of
one cabinet meeting despite the urgency of addressing Lebanon's acute economic
crisis.
'Battle for the rule of law'
Nadim Houry, executive director at the Arab Reform
Initiative, said that the whole ruling class felt under threat in what he
described as "an essential battle in Lebanon for rule of law".
"A section of society has decided that they want to go
all the way and ask for truth," but they face "a political class that
is willing to use threats, use violence, use even launching into another civil
war to prevent that quest for truth from leading to a result," he said.
It emerged after the port blast that officials had known
that hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate had for years been left to linger
in a warehouse near residential neighborhoods.
Families of the victims see in Bitar the only hope for
justice in a country where impunity has long been the norm.
After the 1975 to 1990 civil war, Lebanon issued a broad
amnesty that benefited the country's warlords, allowing many of them to become
political leaders.
"Regardless of what Bitar finds, it's the idea itself
that any of them can somehow be held accountable that they are resisting,"
Houry said.
Any success in the blast probe would set a precedent and
unravel a "impunity regime" under which each party agrees not to
pursue the other for its crimes, as long as it is not targeted itself.
Tensions came to a boil last week after a rally against
Bitar organized by Hezbollah and its Shiite ally Amal descended into violence
that killed seven of their supporters.
'Price too high'
The sound of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades trapped
residents indoors for hours, reviving memories of the civil war.
Hezbollah accused snipers of the Lebanese Forces, a
Christian party, of causing the bloodshed, but the latter has denied
this.
The army, meanwhile, is investigating a video circulated on
social media that appears to show a soldier shooting at protesters.
"Hezbollah is increasingly acting as the praetorian
guard of the regime that has come into place since the 1990s," Houry said.
The Iran-backed movement, the only one not to have disarmed
after the civil war, is at least partly blacklisted by most Western governments
but holds seats in parliament.
While political parties have publicly supported an
investigation, analysts say they ultimately wish to protect their own
interests.
"Lebanon's ruling class may be political opponents but
they are united in profiteering from the system... and they therefore oppose
any steps to reform it or to instill accountability within it," Khatib
said.
A spokesman for the families of blast victims quit on
Saturday, after many feared he had been intimidated into toeing the Hezbollah
line and calling for Bitar to step down.
Ibrahim Hoteit, who lost his brother in the explosion, lives
in a Shiite-majority neighborhood.
The following day, many refrained from taking part in a
protest to mark the second anniversary of the now-defunct 2019 protest
movement, fearing further violence.
"Ultimately, the ruling class want to push the Lebanese
to conclude that the price of accountability is too high," Khatib said.
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