Lebanese daily publishes blank edition to protest political crisis, economic situation

Lebanon’s only English-language newspaper, The Daily Star, has published a blank edition in protest against the country's lingering political crisis and deteriorating economic conditions.

On Thursday, the prominent daily appeared on newsstands with a black front page. “Lebanon" read the cover of the daily.

Each page bore a single phrase referring to one of the country's problems, including government deadlock, rising public debt, increasing sectarian rhetoric, pollution, unemployment and illegal weapons.

The back page had a photo of the cedar tree, which is the national emblem of Lebanon, with a caption reading: “Wake up before it's too late!”

The newspaper's Lebanon and online desk editor, Joseph Habboush, said the move sought to convey alarm to the ruling class.

“We wanted to deliver a warning to the politicians and officials that the situation has reached an alarming level,” he said.

Growth in Lebanon has plummeted in the wake of endless political deadlocks and an economic crisis in recent years.

The country hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees, and their presence is often blamed for putting pressure on the already struggling economy.

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Unemployment stands at more than 20 percent, according to official figures.

The Lebanese Finance Ministry says the national debt is hovering around $85 billion, which accounts for more than 150 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Successive governments have failed to address a waste management crisis or improve an electricity grid, which is plagued by daily power cuts.

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The government has not met since June 30, when two bodyguards of the minister of state for refugee affairs lost their lives and another sustained critical wounds when gunmen opened fire on his convoy and triggered armed clashes.

Saleh Gharib told official National New Agency in a telephone call at the time that he was on his way in the area of Qabr Chamoun, when gunmen shot at his motorcade. 

Sources close to the Lebanese Democratic Party (LDP) then told private LBCI television network that “what happened in Aley was an armed ambush to assassinate [Foreign] Minister Gebran Bassil.”

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They added that the shooters were members of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), led by veteran Druz politician Walid Jumblatt, and that they did not recognize that the convoy belonged to Gharib.

PSP supporters, however, claimed that Gharib’s convoy “forced its way as some young men were removing burning tires in the al-Shahhar area and the bodyguards opened fire.”

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