The dollar, has become the lebanese politicians’ currency, and their favorite game, especially as we are on the cusp of the parliamentary elections, and the history of the elections in Lebanon testifies that it is very expensive, as a large amount of money is paid by the candidates in order to obtain a seat in Parliament.

Running for elections is costly, and requires a large sum of money, from the costs of the electoral machinery, the team that runs the candidate’s electoral campaign, through the advertisements, delegates, and cars for transporting voters, all the way to buying votes by paying cash or in the form of aid.

And since Lebanon’s economic situation is going through its worst days, politicians are taking advantage of people’s pain and their need for money, while the dollar is at stake, being affected by political stances and the bickering between the political parties.

As for the new game of the dollar, according to economists, the circulars of Banque du Liban are now issued according to the pressures that the Governor, Riad Salameh, is subjected to. Whenever politicians feel that they need dollars, they put pressure on Salameh, and this is what we witnessed through the decision issued by Judge Ghada Aoun, banning Salameh from traveling
Experts confirm to ” Sawt Beirut International” that Salameh is subjected to the largest blackmail operation by the covenant and the ruling class, as everyone participates in blackmailing Salameh, and threatening him with decisions in order to pressure him to pump hard currency from the reserve, and this is very dangerous, as the reserve funds are starting to run out.

Experts say that influential politicians are behind this process of extortion, who carry out the robbery or control of the dollars pumped by the Banque du Liban, through merchants affiliated with them, and then they, through well-known money changers, manipulate the exchange process and reduce the exchange rate, so people are rushing to exchange what they have of dollars In their homes for fear of a further drop in the price, and therefore the money changers collect the dollar and sell it to some politicians, and as soon as a period of about a week passes, the dollar rises again, and they sell it in order to achieve huge sums and profits.

Nowadays, politicians, especially those running for parliamentary elections, are collecting dollars from the markets in order to use them as electoral funds, and to buy people’s consciences to get their votes. Therefore, experts expect that the dollar exchange rate process will be manipulated in the current way, meaning its sudden drop, close to 4000 pounds in one go.

Experts stress that there is no ceiling for this manipulation, and the dollar will rise again according to what the politicians want, and the next stage will witness more ebb and flow, and there are no solutions on the horizon because the process of curbing the dollar is affected by internal and external factors and economic solutions are not possible in the near term.