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After direct contact between them was cut off from non-binding parliamentary consultations, the phone rang at the home of the center, the home of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, last Friday, and the source of the call, Al- Bayada, the home of the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, the MP Gebran Bassil. And this call became an event in the local media, in the manner of the news of art stars, as if the caller was “the lover of the wolves”, as if the recipient of the call was “the lover that he knew his place and was pampered ”.
From samples of what was written or transmitted about this call, we chose three:
– The newspaper “Al-Akhbar” published last Saturday, and with advantage, under the title: “A telephone call between Saad Hariri and Gebran Bassil, in the presence of the French delegate Patrick Durrell, breaks the ice between the two”. She related the following: “Dorrell had“ mediated ”between the two former allies, which was evident in a brief telephone call between Hariri and Bassil, during the meeting that brought together the French delegate with the“ movement ”delegation. A call made by Dorrell with Hariri, before he transferred the phone to Bassil, was aimed at “breaking the ice”, according to informed political sources, adding that the French “want a connection between Hariri – Basil is a positive break. From Stage”.
The President of Parliament, Nabih Berri, has been pessimistic in recent days. According to the media following the atmosphere of the Ain al-Tineh headquarters, the completion of the government formation can be delayed for weeks.
– Malak Aqil wrote in “Asas” the following day: “Nothing indicates that the call of a few minutes between Hariri and Bassil, at the initiative of Dorrell, breaks the divergence between the two parties in addressing the government file. A short, concise conversation peppered with compliments that are neither given nor delayed, especially to the exclusion of informed sources that a meeting between the two parties will take place. The decision of Prime Minister Hariri, according to his circles, is firm not to hold parallel meetings with any of the political blocs, and continues to bet on consultations with the President of the Republic exclusively as a safe entrance to the birth of his government.
– On the night of the same day, the mtv channel reported the following: “Sources from the MTV Free Patriotic Movement stated that during their meeting, the French presidential delegate asked the head of the movement if he agreed to speak with the designated prime minister, and he responded that “there is no objection to that, and there is no problem.” One person among us ”, so the French delegate just called Hariri and said: I am at Minister Basil’s house and he wants to talk to you, that’s why the call was made, which lasted less than a minute. During which Bassil emphasized that there is no personal problem, and that he is willing to contribute positively in everything that serves the interests of the Lebanese. He also assured him what he said to Dorrell regarding his approval of what is being agreed with Aoun.
According to information from “Asas” from a former minister of the “Future” movement, the opening of the communication channel was preceded by a blockage in the consultations between the designated president and the president of the Republic, Michel Aoun, which was reflected in the refusal the latter to proceed with these consultations without taking into account the repercussions of the US sanctions on the president. the current”
Upon returning from the world of stars to the field of politics, and with information from “Asas” from a former minister of the “Future Movement”, the opening of the communication channel between Prime Minister Hariri and the parliamentarian Bassil was preceded by a blockade of horizon in the consultations between the designated president and the president Michel Aoun, who manifested himself in a refusal. The latter continues with these consultations without taking into account the repercussions of the United States sanctions on the head of the “movement”. The source noted that Prime Minister Hariri, after his first meeting with President Aoun, following the issuance of the sanctions, had the impression that the President of the Republic was “concerned”. Regarding the second meeting between Hariri and Aoun, the first warned that the second had become “extremist and refused to put aside what happened to Bassil in the process of forming the government, asking that Bassil receive compensation as a result of these sanctions ”, according to information from the former ‘future’ minister.
It is true that the efforts of the French presidential envoy and his first telephone call to Prime Minister Hariri from the house of Deputy Bassil and transferring the call to the latter, was apparently the required exit to reestablish communication between the two parties. However, according to parliamentary circles that monitor the government’s file through “Asas”, this orientation that the delegate took was the result of joint efforts between the French side and “Hezbollah”. The “advice” that the head of the “Loyalty to the Resistance” bloc, MP Muhammad Raad, gave to the French delegate when he received Dorrell in his office in the southern suburbs of Beirut was nothing more than the implementation of the leadership position of “Hezbollah” announced by the general secretary of the party, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who affirmed in his speech this Wednesday. The past on the occasion of the “Martyr’s Day” is that “the brilliant model expressed by Minister Bassil in recent days, we hope will become widespread”, highlighting that the government’s investigation “needs more consultation and consensus among the presidents of the republic and the government … and together we affirm their role in the formation of the government. This constitutes a guarantee for all political forces ”. These circles said that what Nasrallah declared means that the issue of the formation of the government “is contingent on giving the Free Movement whatever makes it victorious in this matter after the severe blow that the head of the” movement “received as a result of the sanctions. of the United States against him.
Translating Nasrallah’s position on the government front would change the course of the French initiative, and would force the president-designate to change the roadmap that he adopted since his assignment, on the basis that this initiative implies in its broad strokes the establishment of a government of independents that will assume the task of reaching an agreement with the Fund. International criticism and access to economic and financial aid so that Lebanon returns to the path of recovery from its crises.
Translating Nasrallah’s position at the head of the government would change the course of the French initiative and force the president-designate to change the roadmap he has adopted since his appointment.
On the other hand, from the meetings held by the French envoy it was suggested that he is not willing to go as far as Hezbollah asks, and also Prime Minister Hariri, whose response to pressure from the party would amount to shooting himself in the foot.
In a related context, the president of the parliament, Nabih Berri, has been pessimistic in recent days about a serious breach of the wall to form the new government. According to the media following the atmosphere of the Ain al-Tineh headquarters, the completion of the government formation can be delayed for weeks, and perhaps until after the end of the transition period in the US presidential election on 20 May. January.
What confirms the data of the second presidency is the last charge of the United States ambassador in Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, which is the second in a row after the sanctions of the United States Department of the Treasury against Bassil, saying: “We do not support to the last government because it was formed by Hezbollah, but we support the Lebanese people. We will see what will be the form of the next government to determine our position.
Returning to the “short phone call” that the French envoy arranged between Hariri and Bassil, he scored several goals at once. These objectives, according to the parliamentary circles that monitor the aforementioned government file, are: Respond to pressure from “Hezbollah” and the First Presidency, even formally, and buy time for both the French side and the President designated to manage the outputs of the government crisis developments.
Concluding what the convocation led indicates that the “movement” sees it as a prelude to its return to its original demands that Hariri does not want. On the other hand, the latter will have to continue to face these demands despite this “concession” that it made, managed by the French sponsor, under pressure from Haret Hreik and Qasr Baabda.
In fact, it is a “precursor” of “Halima” Basil’s return to his “old habits”.
So, let the Lebanese read Al-Fatiha in the spirit of an unborn government and instead enjoy the news from the stars.
