In a statement released yesterday, the Agricultural Workers’ Union called for peedy formation of the government to address the dire economic and social conditions. It appealed to newly named prime minister Hassan Diab to adopt an alternative socio-economic policy based on sustainable development that will prop domestic agricultural and industrial production. The Union pressed for a revision of the current rentier-based, IMF, World Bank and WTO supported economic strategies which have clearly marginalized productive sectors, notably agriculture and industry. Such policies have led to the privatization of vital public facilities in the narrow interests of a few, which deprived the state of significant financial resources, the statement said. The successive governments have repeatedly resorted to servicing the public debt through indirect taxes which burdened the working and low-income classes. They opened the markets without restrictions to foreign products incurring additional debts and deficit on the trade balance and the general state budget. This eventually led to literary impoverishing the Lebanese people, particularly workers and farmers, the statement concluded. (Al Diyar, December 31, 2019)