Chamber of Commerce will not witness competition

Ghassan Belbol withdrew, Choucair’s list will be chosen by acclamation

The battle for the election of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon is going to end with the withdrawal of Ghassan Belbol, a member of the chamber who was expected to head the opposite list of the current Chairman Mohammad Choucair.

Belbol is currently out the country, and when joined by telephone, he refused to comment on the subject. Mohammad Lamaa, the Vice Chair of the chamber confirmed that Belbol has withdrawn. He said: “Many candidates that were from Belbol’s list have also withdrawn in addition to other independent candidates.”

Arslan Sinno, a candidate who was running as an independent, confirmed his withdrawal. He said: “We agreed with the current Chair that the chamber board would implement some of the projects we were defending. Mohammad Ghandour, who was running as an independent candidate will join Choucair’s list.” According to Sinno, the agreement between independent candidates and Choucair includes executing a number of reforms, implementing good governance principles and enhanced transparency in processing transactions.

“The election that was supposed to be held on January 12, will be replaced with a vote by acclamation of Choucair’s list,” said Lamaa. He said: “The new list will include most of the current chamber members as well as new candidates who are expected to join.”