Ronny Karam

When I listen to politicians talk about the squandered resources/money/brains of the country, I nearly believe that they care.

We all agree that the country have been robbed several times by either the Syrians (I mean the system that occupied Lebanon) or even by our own politicians, though I’m not writing to talk about those.
We all know that all those who were part of the parliament or the government from 1991 ‘till 2005, and their gangs, did everything they can to put their dirty hands on whatever they can get; if it was by legal or illegal means.

Still, the Lebanese people are being robbed since 1943 and exactly since the famous Independence Day by his parliament. How? Let me put this in simplified Mathematical formulas and explanation:

The number of deputes have changed since 1943 ‘till now so I’m going to round the number at 100.
When elected, each member stays for a 4 years period.
He’s paid approximately 10,000,000 LPD (~ $6,666.66 – Strange coincidence?).

We don’t have to argue about the salary. It’s fine by me, even though the minimum salaries in Lebanon go down to $200/month. That’s fine.

Over 4 years a parliament of 100 spends:
10 M * 12 months * 4 years = 480,000,000 L.L. ($320,000)

480 M * 100 = 48,000,000,000 L.L ($32,000,000)

That’s also fine by me. They’re doing their jobs (…) and they’re getting paid.

But why, why, why do I still have to pay a member of the parliament, after he leaves and new members are elected? Can someone explain that to me?

Let’s compare Lebanon to a company, where the parliament and government are its board of directors and we, the Lebanese people are its shareholders.
We elect the board of directors and pay them salaries. If a member of the board is not doing his job, we fire him (in other words, he’s not elected for a second round).
Which company/institute/organization in the world pays an employee that it fired for the rest of his life? And if he dies, it keeps paying the same salary to his wife, then his daughter if she’s single or divorced?

Let’s go to another Mathematical formula:

Since 1991 ‘till now, we had 4 parliaments of 128 members.

4 x 80 (since they’re always the same members) = 320 members

320 members * 10 M/month = 3,200,000,000L.L (~$2,133,333.33)

We’re paying $2 Million/month ($24 M/year) for our parliament members from 1991 ‘till now. I didn’t add the ones before 1991, so you do the Math.

When a member is in the parliament, he should have a salary as he’s an employee of the Lebanese people. But once the people fire him, he should get a job and start producing.

Note: I may be wrong about the numbers, but I’m sure about the law.