- Extortion or Desperation? -

Remember the big hoopla with the 36$ Million payment for the Hariri Tribunal? Remember how P.M Najib Mikati saved the day by squaring a circle that was seemingly impossible to square and paid the money off from what we all thought was the National Disaster Relief Fund?

Now we’re learning that it was Lebanese banks who will actually pay the amount. What happened is that the banks “stepped up” out of self interest because they wanted to diffuse what they thought was a explosive confrontation that will leave everyone worse off. It’s like a game of chicken between two parties in which a third party blinked first and fell on its sword.

This is big news and it is surprising because all the parties behaved as if Mr. Mikati pulled a political feat. The PM gained popularity, March 14 sulked and Sayyed Nasrallah wagged his fingers and demanded that Mikati paid back with political concessions to Hezbollah and Aoun.

Something tells me that this was a surprise to everyone but Mikati and the bankers.