With the start of the countdown to the expiry date of the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, approaching at the end of this month, the doors remain open to several and ambiguous scenarios and possibilities, especially after the sudden position of the four deputies of the governor who issued a statement threatening collective resignation unless a successor to Salameh was appointed.

In the context, the statement, whatever its background, is remarkable for its timing, form, and content, especially in light of the current circumstances, the continuation of the presidential vacancies, and the political rams about the government’s authority to make basic appointments, or to fill vacancies in the first positions of the agency or the prosecution, noting that a whisper is taking place in some scenes. On the possibility of extending Salameh for a year from the end of his term in the interest of the functioning of the public utility, while the truth may lie in the fear of the political system, of what Salameh might leak of secrets that expose his operators, given that this system is unable to take any step to stop the successive collapses and various crises, even if it is limited. at a minimum.

Readings differ about the possibility of appointing a caretaker government as an alternative ruler in light of its narrow tasks, as legal sources of Sawt Beirut International believe that there is some difficulty for this government, by appointing a new ruler based on the continuous jurisprudence of the State Shura Council, in terms of urgent matters that are linked to deadlines, considering that there is an alternative at the end of the ruler’s term and not a complete vacancy, as Article No. 25 of the Monetary and Credit Law allows the first deputy ruler to assume the duties of the latter.

However, legal sources consider that the prominent problem today is the resignation of the governor’s deputies if it occurs, but they remind them that they cannot abandon their responsibility, and they have taken an oath before the President of the Republic, and they must carry out their job duties, and they are not entitled to take the step of collective resignation, which leads to the void at the central council level.

The sources did not rule out that the statement of the governor’s deputies was a matter of urging the political authority to assume its responsibilities in light of the difficult monetary conditions that Lebanon is going through.

In response to a question about whether the circulars issued by the Banque du Liban remain valid at the end of the ruler’s term, the sources point out that the circulars are not linked to the ruler himself, so they remain as they are, until the new ruler or the first deputy ruler, i.e. the acting ruler, decides otherwise.

And about what is rumored about the return of the dollar exchange rate against the Lebanese pound and the possibility of financial chaos at the end of the ruler’s term, the sources confirm that the economic and monetary situation is no longer linked to a specific person, because the decline and rise in the price is due to the demand for the dollar, and the ability of the Bank of Lebanon to meet the demand, so nothing can change with regard to the intervention of the Banque du Liban in the market if the deputy governor replaces the latter.