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After efforts to form the Lebanese government stalled due to the adherence of the two Shiite groups, Hezbollah and Amal Movement, to awarding the financial portfolio to a Shiite figure, it seems that a solution looming on the horizon is looming. in favor of the desire of the “Shiite duo” to emerge from the crisis of government formation.
The Lebanese daily “An-Nahar” revealed a proposal circulating behind the scenes, according to which the Finance Ministry could surrender to the “Shiite duo” if it issued a statement declaring that it does not currently consider giving it to them as a permanent and charitable right.
The newspaper warned against this proposal because it “aborts the Christian position expressed by the Maronite patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi and the position of former government ministers who refuse not to rotate in government.”
Political parties oppose the demand of the “Shiite duo” and insist on the principle of rotation, that is, that no party should maintain a specific portfolio.
On Sunday, the Maronite Patriarch also criticized the demand, asking “in what capacity a sect demands a certain ministry as if it were its own, and the formation of the government is suspended until it achieves its objective.”
Hariri, Lebanon’s most prominent Sunni leader, said last week that the Finance Ministry “is not the exclusive right of any sect,” considering that refusal to participate is a “violation that is described as the right of last resort to save Lebanon “.
The An-Nahar newspaper believed that this proposal would give a victory to the “Shiite duo”, but would save the face of French President Emmanuel Macron, so that he could say that he managed to form the government and would proceed with the help of Lebanon.
The newspaper said: “This Lebanese-style agreement is based on the premise that Iran is returning the favor to France for its position on sanctions against it in the Security Council.” Paris rejects the US announcement to reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
In the event that this proposal is successful, its implementation as a solution to the government crisis continues to be a hostage agreed upon by the political blocs.
The political forces had committed themselves, as announced by the French president at the end of his visit to Beirut earlier this month, to form a “government with a specific mission” made up of “an independent group” and with the support of all. political parties within a maximum period of two weeks.
However, training efforts stalled with the insistence of Hezbollah, the country’s most prominent political force, and its ally, the Amal Movement, led by Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, to appoint Shiite ministers and adhere to the financial portfolio, which is opposed by other parties, notably Saad Hariri, the leader of the Future Movement.
Faced with this setback, the daily “Al-Akhbar”, close to Hezbollah, wrote on Monday that the crisis had entered “a firing phase after the suspension of communications between political parties in the last two days.”
Agreement between the building blocks has always been a condition for the formation of governments in Lebanon, a difficult task that takes weeks or even months.
To warn of the seriousness of the situation, Lebanese economist Kamal Hamdan said that Lebanon is expecting a social and economic earthquake in the coming days, indicating that the situation has become uncontrollable.
He added in a tweet posted on Twitter: “The price index rose 100% between August 2020 and August 2019, which means that the real wage in Lebanese pounds will be cut in half and with the end of subsidies, prices will go up an additional 60%, which will reduce this salary to a third. “
For his part, the designated prime minister, Mustafa Adib, called on the Lebanese political parties on Monday to facilitate the formation of the government that was supposed to be announced a week ago.
Adeeb said in a statement Monday that “the pain of the Lebanese … requires the cooperation of all parties to facilitate the formation of a major government with a specific program that the parties have previously pledged to support.” He stressed that Lebanon “cannot afford to waste time.”
Adeeb aspires to form a government of specialists aimed at halting the accelerating economic collapse that Lebanon has been witnessing for a year. Adeeb called on all parties to “work for the success of the French initiative immediately and without delay, which opens the way for Lebanon to rescue and halt its rapid deterioration,” considering that “any further delay exacerbates and deepens the crisis.”
He stressed that he will continue working to form a government, after media reports spoke of the possibility of abandoning this difficult task.
Since the horrific Beirut port explosion on August 4, France has been lobbying political forces to form a government that undertakes urgent reforms in exchange for international financial support to lift the country out of its economic crisis, but the Shiite duo have held together the financial portfolio.
Observers say recent U.S. sanctions on two former ministers, including Berri’s political adviser and former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, and then two companies Washington said were owned by Hezbollah, have increased the duo’s insistence on snatch the financial portfolio.
