Why we can’t delay Privatization

On the eve of World War II, Churchill spoke of there having been enough “jaw, jaw”. Now was the time for “war, war”. He was talking about the failed policy of appeasement with Nazi Germany, but the same rule sentiment could be applied to Lebanon’s need to privatize key economic sectors, a topic on which there has been much “jawing”. Since the Cedar Revolution and the election of a supposedly more pro-active  government, not a lot, apart from the “pre-revolutionary” sale of licences to two mobile phone operators, has been accomplished on this front. Meanwhile, the debt has remains at a cataclysmic level and the basic services provided by the public utilities – electricity, water, telecom et al – have slipped from mediocre to abysmal. And yet, the idea of privatisation, first mooted by the Hoss government in 1998, remains strangely taboo with many staunch opponents – mainly Hizbullah and