Damascus: Three Lebanese parliamentary blocs are planning to appeal a presidential decree granting Lebanese nationality to over 100 applicants, mostly Syrians—some of whom are considered “very close” to the Syrian Government.

The three blocs objecting the law are the Lebanese Phalange, the Lebanese Forces, and the Democratic Gathering, headed by Taymour Junblatt, and plan to raise their objection to the State Shura Council.

For starters, they claim that many of the figures included in the decree want Lebanese citizenship only to get around EU and US sanctions, for the purposes of banking accounts and transfers, saying that Lebanon shouldn’t provide such cover, fearing eventual legal backlash.

Secondly, they argue that Lebanese citizenship should not be given out so freely, with no legal basis, given that none of the names mentioned in the decree were born in Lebanon or hail from Lebanese ancestry.

Word of mouth in Beirut says that some of the applicants have paid anywhere between $150-300,000 USD for naturalisation—a claim that is strongly refuted and challenged by Lebanese authorities.

Additionally, the timing of the decree has raised eyebrows as well, given that by norm, a sitting president is entitled to sign off naturalisation of non-Lebanese during the final hours of his term, just like ex-President Michel Sulaiman in 2014.

President Michel Aoun is only in his second year in-office.

“The suspicious circumstances under which the naturalisations took place and given the fact that the most prominent beneficiaries were wealthy businessmen, raised many questions domestically about the possible illegalities involved in the decision” said Michael Young, a prominent Beirut-based commentator on Lebanese affairs.

Speaking to Gulf News, he explained: “Given the fact that several of the names were prominent Syrian businessmen supportive of the (Syrian president Bashar) Al Assad regime, the naturalisations also underlined that there are those in Lebanon who may be trying to get on the good side of the Al Assad regime as it reasserts power in Syria, which will likely help pave the way for a resurgence of Syrian influence in Lebanon.”

To control the storm of objections, Aoun came out with a weekend statement, saying that no naturalisation had taken place yet, awaiting approval from the director of General Security, General Abbas Ebrahim.

The entire file is now in his hands to study and recommend accordingly.

Citizens who have any information about the leaked names ought to report to General Security—a request scoffed by ordinary Lebanese, who said that information gathering was the job of the state.

Among the figures mentioned on the decree are the family of Hani Murtada, an ex-minister of higher education, the family of Farouk Joud, the deputy president of the Latakia Chamber of Commerce, and Abdulkader Sabra, president of the Maritime Transport Chamber in Syria.

The decree also includes Samer Foz, a wealthy and prominent rising businessman who is high on the list of real estate developers in the upcoming period, who recently bought the shares of Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal at the Damascus Four Seasons Hotel.

Also notable on the list is wealthy Iranian businessman Cyrus Ahsani.

At least one of the Syrians, Samer Yousuf, denied that he had ever applied for Lebanese citizenship.

The manager of a popular Damascus-based radio station, Cham FM, came out with a public statement saying: “How can they give me citizenship that I have not applied for? And pardon me, if I wanted to buy another nationality, I would get a European one for less money.”