BEIRUT — With parliamentary elections rapidly approaching, Lebanese voters are bracing for what many are calling a make or break moment for their beleaguered country.

Years of political unrest and protests against systemic corruption, beginning in 2019 with the October Revolution, has led to a state of political paralysis. Since then, the situation has only continued to deteriorate due to a series of calamitous events including the global COVID-19 pandemic, the collapse of the Lebanese pound and the deadly Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion that devastated the capital in mid-2020.

Serious concerns remain around Lebanon’s disastrous economic crisis as well as access to basic necessities like fuel, electricity and medicine. Power blackouts are common and food prices have dramatically increased as suppliers are forced to import goods using foreign currencies purchased at exorbitant black market rates.

“My concern is that the disastrous [conditions] we have been living in for the past two and a half years will continue and worsen,” hospitality professional Rita Ghantous told Al-Monitor. “This country is unrecognizable — a shadow of its real self.”