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Muhammad Choucair wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat:
Political sources that follow up on the government crisis in Lebanon considered that it no longer makes sense to resume consultations to form the new government between President Michel Aoun and the president in charge of forming it, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, after their last meeting. two days ago it was reset to zero. He added that the resumption of the consultations depends on the intervention of the special envoy of French President Emmanuel Macron, Patrick Dorrell, who arrived last night in Beirut and on his agenda is holding meetings that include the most prominent political components concerned about the birth of government.
The meetings of the French envoy are supposed to continue on Thursday and Friday, in an attempt to save the consultations and overcome the contract that still delays the formation of the government, and that go beyond the differences on the government file to the implications of the sanctions imposed by the United States on the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Deputy Gebran Bassil, which soon expanded to a confrontation between the latter and the US ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea.
Al-Sharq al-Awsat learned from sources keeping abreast of the course of the consultations between Aoun and Hariri that their last meeting did not press for a gap that would open the door to a resumption of communication between them, but instead returned it. to zero, which means that you are still entering a vicious cycle without making any progress. . The last meeting was a replica of their previous meeting, which coincided with the issuance of US sanctions on Basil.
The sources attributed the reason to the fact that these sanctions were present outside the authorship consultations, and almost headed their agenda, but on the part of Aoun, who seemed astonished by the targeting of his political heir, Bassil, for the negative repercussions on his Presidential ambitions that could be reversed, and therefore you are grappling with a process. Composition from the angle of its float, considering that the formation of the government constitutes the last cartridge to save it, presenting it as the first partner in the distribution of suitcases on the one hand and in the exercise of the right of veto against everything that contradicts its political interest .
The sources indicated that the last communiqué issued by the Office of Media of the Presidency of the Republic was devoid of any positive sign, and remained in the generalities, unlike the previous communiqués that were issued after each meeting and that indicated the climate of cooperation between the two presidents, as well as progress in the discussion of the government file. She asked: Why did Aoun decide, based on this statement, to return the queries to a zero point? What changed and caused the absence of the positive atmosphere?
He revealed that the negotiations between Basil and the US administration did not begin at that time. Rather, it began more than two years ago “because it is not reasonable to address this many political issues in a short period of time, from the position of difference between Bassil and the US ambassador.” And he asked: Is it reasonable to withdraw the sanctions that were imposed to target the formation of the government, in light of the recent statement from the Presidential Press Office, which suggested that the meeting the day before yesterday was the beginning of the meetings among them?
He said that Aoun had retracted his approval for the government to be composed of 18 ministers, and had taken the initiative to indirectly adopt Bassil’s vision, which says that each portfolio should be entrusted to a minister, thinking that he could obtain the guarantor or obstructive third party in government. He considered that Hariri does not have the responsibility to suspend the consultations, and that his departure two days ago to Baabda was received with satisfaction by the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, who was surprised by the continued stagnation and lack of progress.
The same sources confirmed that Aoun insists on applying the rotation principle to include all exchanges, and said that Hariri – although he excludes the Ministry of Finance from its application – is not opposed to excluding sovereign portfolios, even once, from the rotation, provided it is limited to other bags. He said that the node was not limited to the implementation of the rotation, but was at the initiative of Aoun and for the first time to ask the designated president the need to consult with the parliamentary blocs and give their opinion, and then return to him so that you can build on what you want.
She asked: Why didn’t Aoun make such a proposal in recent meetings between them? What are the reasons for including this on the agenda of the consultations, even though the formation of the government belongs to the President-designate and the President of the Republic can approve or oppose the formation?
He said Bassil’s conditions were included in the consultation table as soon as the sanctions targeting him were issued. She attributed the reason to Aoun seeking his observance, to send a message to the US administration, that his political heir is now stronger than him before the sanctions were issued, and saw that the President of the Republic is sponsoring the mobilization of the forces allied to him to support Bassil.
Consequently, the formation of the government is now running into obstacles, the first of which is the insistence of Aoun, in his alliance with Hezbollah and others, to present Basil as the first partner in determining his fate, while the presence of the French delegate constitutes the last chance to save Lebanon, by floating the French initiative on one side. And to confirm that Lebanon is not abandoned by Paris.
Will Durrell manage to narrow the gap between Aoun and Hariri, which has recently widened? Especially because he was forced to attend in person after realizing that accompanying him from Paris to author consultations did not lead to the dissolution of the contract? But the sources wondered: Will the agent achieve what the principal has failed to do so far? Or is the authorship crisis now elsewhere, specifically between Tehran and Washington?
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