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Gemayel Says PM's Demo Appearance Bold Move: Taxes Aimed at 95% of Firms, 90% of Groceries

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Thursday described Prime Minister Saad Hariri's appearance at Sunday's anti-tax demo as a “bold move,” describing the hurling of empty bottles at him by angry protesters as a “very regrettable incident.”

Hariri got out of his armored convoy behind the police line at the demonstration facing the government's headquarters but could get no closer as protesters began throwing bottles and harrying him with cries of "Thieves!"

With water bottles falling around him and his bodyguards shielding him with their arms, Hariri told TV cameras: "It's true there is waste and corruption in the country, but we will fight it."

Gemayel accused certain political parties of sending “30 masked rioters” in a bid to disrupt the demonstration in Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square.

“Street protesters halted the tax increase on citizens and created confusion among the ranks of the political class, and had it not been for our objections in parliament, the taxes would have been approved,” Gemayel said in an interview on LBCI television.

“We have never been against the new wage scale but we're against funding it through arbitrary taxes,” Gemayel added.

He noted that out of 22 taxes approved by parliament, “only four” are not targeted at low-income citizens.

“We were going to vote in favor of taxes on seaside properties and the (banks') unprecedented profits,” Gemayel added.

“$700 million in customs fees are being squandered, let them tell us how they intend to stop that,” he went on to say.

“We are not arguing with (Finance Minister) Ali Hassan Khalil over the rightful taxes but we are rather rejecting taxes on the poor. Ninety percent of what we buy at the supermarket will be targeted by the new taxes,” Gemayel warned, noting that only “bread, milk and vegetable” are exempted from the value added tax (VAT).

Gemayel also pointed out that “95% of firms in Lebanon are not banks or financial institutions but the new taxes are targeted at them all.”

“As a Lebanese citizen, I reject that the wage scale be funded from citizens' pockets and we cannot accept that. Is there any reasonable person who accepts this? All those pinning the blame on us should shoulder their responsibilities,” Kataeb's chief added.

“As long as they are convinced of these taxes, why haven't they ratified them?” he wondered, noting that Speaker Nabih Berri, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called for revising the taxes after the popular protests.

“We are not sheep and we won't accept arbitrary taxes,” he stressed.


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