A Syrian presence confirmed by fraternity cooperation and coordination agreements
From then on, Damascus will expand its hold over Lebanon, with the exception of southern Lebanon, under Israeli occupation until 2000 , to the detriment of the Christian community in particular.
The first legislative elections under Syrian control which will take place in 1992 will be marked by a strong boycott in the Christian regions, some deputies being elected with only 42 votes.
Moreover, among the 300,000 people who received Lebanese nationality during the presidential decree of 1994, more than 70% were Syrians, further aggravating this view of things. These newly naturalized people will tip the electoral balance in the elections that will follow in favor of pro-Syrian candidates, the opposition parties struggling to break through.
On the security front, the Syrian forces will disarm the various militias, with the exception of the South Lebanon Army supported by Israel and the Shiite duo Amal and Hezbollah who are facing it.
On the economic level, Lebanon, however bloodless due to the civil war, will serve as a « money pump » for Syria, from which certain leaders will benefit greatly in a personal capacity. Thus, the Syrian Vice-President, friend of Rafic Hariri, who became Prime Minister in 1993, will receive commissions of up to 10% on the award of public contracts while the reconstruction market turns out to be successful, without mentioning the commissions granted to senior Syrian officials.
Therefore, in each crisis, Damascus will be judge and arbiter, the Lebanese leaders frequently visiting the Syrian capital to seek mediation from the Syrian authorities.
Elected on November 24, 1989, the President of the Republic Elias Hraoui will see his mandate extended for another 3 years with the blessing of Damascus and will end on November 23, 1998. Its first prime minister will be Salim Hoss in 1990, then Omar Karamé from 1990 to 1992. The latter will be forced to resign on May 13, 1992 under pressure from the street protesting against the high cost of living and the sudden deterioration in the parity of the Lebanese pound which will reach up to 3,000 LL / USD.
Finally, Rafic Hariri, one of the architects of the Taëf agreements, will arrive at the Grand Seraglio, who will be its prime minister until the end of his mandate. Some will claim that the attack on the Lebanese pound was induced by the banks he owned and the support of some of his friends who wanted to get him to power.
Prime Minister, Rafic Hariri’s years will be marked by various projects including the reconstruction of downtown Beirut, entrusted to SOLIDERE, a company incorporated for this purpose but whose role is marked by many controversies, in particular due to forced expropriation. many beneficiaries and undervaluation of their assets, by the establishment of mobile telecommunications networks but also by the arrival at the head of the Banque du Liban, of Riad Salamé, who will stabilize the parity of the Lebanese pound at the cost of high interest rates, which will even reach a record 38%.
Public expenditure will then be financed by significant public debt provided for under the Horizon 2000 plan, providing for public debt which should reach 120% of GDP.
At the same time, Israeli attacks continued in particular in 1996, between April 11 and 27, 1996. Israel then launched a bombing campaign called Operation Grapes of Wrath against targets in Lebanese territory with the aim of weakening Hezbollah.
On December 23, 1998, the Commander of the Lebanese Army, Emile Lahoud, will be elected President of the Republic, with the blessing of Damascus, of which he is considered to be close. He will appoint Salim Hoss, Prime Minister. Faced with spending and the significant increase in public debt, he decided to implement an austerity policy. He resigned in 2000 after his defeat in the legislative elections against Rafic Hariri’s list.
In 2000, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon but also the death of Syrian President Hafez el Assad allowed the Syrian presence in Lebanon to be called into question.
The meeting of Kornet Chehwa began in 2001, a meeting of the various local political parties opposing the Syrian presence at the call of the Maronite bishops and sponsored by the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, in the absence of the main groups who have been exiled or put in prison.
At the same time in August 2001, the patriarch will make a historic tour of the Chouf, thus marking the official reconciliation with the Druze community and its leader Walid Joumblatt a few decades after the mountain war and the massacres which then followed.
This reconciliation was one of the precursors to the convergence of interests between the different communities that make up Lebanon in order to obtain the withdrawal of Syrian troops.
Internationally, the international community will begin to gain a foothold on the Lebanese file, particularly with the approach of the presidential elections scheduled for 2004, while Damascus would rather seek the extension of Emile Lahoud’s mandate and the United States seeing it. the assurance of the maintenance of the Syrian presence in Lebanon opposing it, threatening to intervene militarily on behalf of the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restauration Act which comes into force on December 12, 2003.
