Rattlesnake Ridge      

 
      BFF   

“The long anticipated cutbacks in the Future Movement and its institutions have reportedly begun with a third of the party’s employees in the process of being laid off. Next in line are the movement’s media outlets. This current round of layoffs, which includes allegedly high severance pay, is believed to have affected 35 percent of Future Movement office employees, most of whom earned low salaries, such as service workers, janitors, mail carriers, and drivers. While a good portion of office employees were being let go, the big earners remained behind their desks and TV screens without paying much attention to what was happening near them. As a matter of fact, one of those big earners views these layoffs in a positive light, saying, “Most of those people have no place in the Future Movement. They were hired to end their complaints and that of their families who happen to support the Future Movement.” In the corridors of the Future building on Spears Street in Beirut, a number of employees say that media coordinator Ayman Jezzini took it upon himself to inform tens of employees of the decision to let them go…………”

The Hariri right-wing political bloc, also called the Mach 14, depends not only on the Hariri family fortune. It has also has depended on very generous funds from the Saudi ruling clan. Lebanese analysts have noted that in 2009 the Saudis went all out to defeat the opposition to March 14 in the elections. They managed to buy enough votes to get them a majority of parliamentary seats even though the opposition Hezbollah block got a majority (54%) of the popular vote. Thomas Friedman almost called it a “divine victory” although I wrote here at the time the equivalent of “not so fast, look at the popular vote, stupid”.
By the same measure, Hezbollah’s financial fortunes also depend on Iranian aid. Hezbollah does have a huge source of Lebanese emigrants who also send money to their villages and families and possibly to Hezbollah ‘charities’ (the U.S. government and the United Arab Emirates have been tightening the screws on many of these). There have been reports over the past few months of the Saudis putting the squeeze on Hariri, even as regards his personal fortune a lot of which is tied in Saudi Arabia (Mr. Hariri is a Saudi citizen). There have also been Saudi media reports that the Iranians are also cutting back their aid to their Lebanese friends.
It is hard times for everyone, even in Middle East oil producers, even with crude prices so high.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]