[ad_1]
Usually the process takes days or weeks. Representatives of denominations, clans and parties chat behind closed doors until it is clear who will be the country’s prime minister. But this time everything went very fast: on Monday the Beirut establishment agreed with diplomat Mustafa Adib, 48. The Sunnis – the constitution provides for a representative of this denomination as head of government – had previously been ambassadors to Germany for seven years. 90 of the 120 members of parliament were able to come to an agreement on it, including all the major blocs, including the future move of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah.
Speed was essential, because Lebanon has been on the brink of ruin not only since the explosion in the port of Beirut about four weeks ago: in the spring, the external debt already amounted to 90 billion dollars, that is, 170 percent of gross domestic product. The Lebanese lira had lost more than 80 percent of its value since 2018. On Monday, the World Bank released estimates that the economic damage from the detonation, with at least 190 dead and more than 6,500 injured, amounted to $ 7.8 billion. . The country will need up to $ 760 million in emergency aid alone by the end of the year.
Adib promises to form a government “in record time”
German interlocutors are very benevolent about Adib: he is well connected in the Federal Republic and Europe, they have worked closely with him. In his first post-nomination speech, Mustafa Adib pledged to form a government “in record time”, carry out reforms and close a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF): “Now is not the time to talk and make promises, it’s now It’s time to work. “
These words sound like an echo of Emmanuel Macron’s warnings. The French president arrived in Beirut two days after the devastating explosion on August 4, called for reforms, and later led an international aid coalition.
But Adib is unlikely to be able to deliver and will keep his word. For democracy activist Hussein al-Achi, there is hardly any difference between the new prime minister and his failed predecessor, Hassan Diab: “They both have no legitimacy from the population, they both lack the character of a reformer. In Lebanon now you have to join the established forces, don’t just step on their feet, you have to step on their heads to get something. ” It is urgent to reform the energy sector and the financial system of the country, but above all it is necessary to train the State to act. For decades it has been paralyzed by a complicated system of balancing between denominations.
On Monday, the premier-designate visited the Gemayze and Mar Mikhael districts, which were particularly damaged by the blast, and learned of popular anger: the abusive residents demanded “the overthrow of the system,” which in their eyes hardly resembles a democracy.
A prime minister in the Hezbollah sense
Kristof Kleemann, manager of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation office in Beirut, says: “The fact that the decision of who will be the prime minister is taken behind closed doors among the powerful in politics and business shows once again the total lack of transparency in Lebanese politics. ” Mustafa Adib had been selected by an informal panel of previous prime ministers. One of them is Najib Mikati, who is considered the source of Hezbollah. The Shiite organization in Lebanon maintains a kind of state within another state. Its core is the Hezbollah militia, which is far superior to the regular army. In fact, troops in Lebanon have the right to veto political decisions.
“The parties want a return to the status quo before, before the start of the revolution in October and before the explosion,” says Lokman Slim, an editor and political activist who has run the Umam documentation center in the middle of southern Beirut dominated by Hezbollah for decades. entertains. “With Adib, Hezbollah once again has a weak Sunni prime minister who covers up all its misdeeds,” says Slim. The party and its militia hardly have the welfare of the Lebanese population in mind, but mainly represent the interests of Iran.
French President Macron also reiterated his call for reforms on his second visit to Beirut since the explosion: the official occasion is the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the modern Lebanese state. Meetings with the singer Fairoz and his counterpart Michel Aoun were on the agenda, and he also announced that he would organize an aid conference to Lebanon in October. But the visit can be understood as a warning. The next six weeks are “of crucial importance” for Lebanon. “This is the last chance for this system,” Macron said in an interview with the Politico website.
