On October 1, LIMS organized the first day of an in-person workshop gathering 22 political activists from across Lebanon, including: representatives of 3 MPs and 15 candidates to the 2022 parliamentary elections. Prior to the workshop, participants selected reform axes they wished to address, and during the workshop, they worked in five parallel groups on the selected axes. LIMS invited reputable experts on those reforms to facilitate the discussion and help participants cover all the aspects of the reforms.
1.The 2022 budget law, facilitated by Dr. Rajaa Charrif, director of public accounting at the Ministry of Finance and Dr. Elia Elia, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Balamand.
2.Electricity reform, facilitated by Mr. Ghassan Baydoun, the previous director general of investment at the Ministry of Energy and Water and Mr. Anthony Zina, policy analyst at LIMS.
3.Capital control law, facilitated by Esq. Richard Deeb, partner in the law firm D&C for Legal Services and Mr. Garabed Fakrajian, policy analyst at LIMS.
4.Education law, facilitated by Dr. Mazen Derawan, founder and CEO of one of the largest meat processing companies in the Middle East, and Dr. Rajaa Charrif, director of public accounting at the Ministry of Finance.
5.Public procurement law, facilitated by Dr. Jean Ellieh, president of the public procurement authority and Judge Rana Akoum, head of the execution court in Jdeidet El Metn.
Dr. Mardini, CEO of LIMS, started off the workshop with a plenary session on the five axes of reforms that constitute the base of the negotiations between Lebanon and the IMF, namely: currency reform, fiscal reform, banking sector reform, electricity reform, and anti-corruption and money laundering reform. By the end of the workshop, each group selected a representative to present their findings to all participants and experts who discussed those findings.