It’s about our purses

As Lebanon celebrates its recent military victory over Islamic State fighters on this side of the Lebanese-Syrian border and mourns over the recovered bodies of nine army soldiers, local politicians are again embroiled in another battle of sorts: one over taxation. After many months vacillating over whether or not to issue new taxes, lawmakers agreed in July to the measures. The legislation then sat on the desk of the president for nearly a month before the required signature was inked. But on the last day of August, in a surprising move, the Constitutional Council issued an injunction temporarily freezing the tax hike while it studied an appeal challenging the law, effectively delaying the tax implementation – at least until Lebanon’s highest court issues its final decision in September. The court’s ruling was just the latest twist in what has been a long and winding road of confusion, where along the