He served a very short Mandate, yet his name remains as the example of the “clean” and young minister. Demianos Kattar, who took on the Ministry of Finance and Economy in the post-PM Hariri’s death period, was always involved with the youth and environment issues. In a private meeting between the Youth Shadow Government and Minister Demianos Kattar, iloubnan.info was present and had this exclusive coverage.

iloubnan.info: You have served as a Minister of Finance for a very short while, how did you manage to establish such popularity?
Demianos Kattar: I have served a mandate of 90 days or more exactly 800 hours. And I said to myself, I either make a breakthrough in my way of working as a minister, or I pass just like any other minister, smoking cigars and sitting in the Downtown. So I had the choice of either going towards the concept of authority or the concept of the unbiased government. And I was the first minister who published his whole 800-hour-mandate on the internet, detailing every single action and every appointment I made when I served as a minister; I have included everything. I did this because I considered that tax payers have the right to know how I spend their money.

What should we focus on today in Lebanon?
It is I think time to focus on Agriculture. The Lebanese agricultural products are one of the best products, and we have the opportunity to export our products. However, one of the problems our products are facing now is that they are reaching their destination without a label, and therefore, they are being returned. 32% of our nutritive exported products are being returned to Lebanon because they are unlabeled.

We have had many environmental crisis in Lebanon, why do you think the budget of the Ministry of the Environment is low?
No one really understands the Lebanese situation. We are still promoting Lebanon as a clean environment. What I mean is that you need a shock reaction from people. Some of them are still going on picnics and leaving the fire burning behind in the woods. The public opinion should be oriented towards the environment. One way is to turn some green areas into asset class.

How can we prevent deforestation and environmental crisis?
I have made a proposal once concerning deforestation. The proposal was: That upon the registration of every student at school he should present a certificate from the Local Mukhtar proving that he has planted a tree and promised to maintain it and water it. This is quite simple, how much does a tree cost? Nothing. With such a project, you give the student and the citizen a moral obligation. We have 800.000 students that are enrolling yearly, so imagine the number of trees that will be planted.

One of the main problems in Lebanon is that small institutions are dying in front of the large conglomerates, and we take the Mall chains vs. grocery shops as an example, what do you think?
We need to have a thorough study when it comes to Mall chains opening in the Lebanese regions, for they are killing the small institutions. And they are killing professions like the Butcher’s profession for example. The idea might seem simple or naive but this and many other similar small businesses and professions constitute 50% of the Lebanese people’s status-quo.

What role do you think the youth can have and how?
I have always had the idea of establishing a youth parliament that should be changed every two years and not on a yearly basis. This parliament will oblige the government to discuss a project. And this can be done whenever the Youth parliament votes unanimously on a law or a project. Therefore, the cabinet will be obliged by law to discuss it. I am with 64 deputies not 128, and not on a sectarian basis, but rather on a true representative basis. Every group of people should elect a deputy. And in Lebanon, there is a certain balance that can fit this proposal. But the status of those young elected deputies has no social value socially but a lot of academic values.

What do you think are the strong points of a young new political figure?
The youth does not have a history; it is not involved in a dark history. Their arguments come naturally and they are innocent of the crimes committed by their late fathers. Their arguments can be: “I am not a criminal!”, “I am not a thief”, these slogans will shake people.

Was your name proposed for this Government?
Actually it was. But only in case they were to opt for segregating the Ministry of Finance and keeping it neutral. They proposed my name as a neutral minister.

Will you be running for the elections?
I have stated that I would never run for elections under the previous law. On the other hand, I have a really tight schedule and I have my work to take care of. Besides, if I have a terrific stand about a certain issue in the parliament, people will applaud me. However if I do not offer my condolences in one funeral, people will do the opposite. The Lebanese mentality is still difficult in that regard.