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On Monday, President Michel Aoun officially gave the mandate to Adib. It emerged this weekend that Christian, Sunni and Muslim Shiite parties in the country’s complicated political landscape are behind the nomination.
– Now we have a small chance to save the country, says Adib according to news agencies after the nomination.
He adds that there is no time for “words, promises and wishes” because immediate reforms are needed, especially to appease the International Monetary Fund (IMF), so that the country can continue to receive credit from the outside world.
The formation of a government itself can take months.
The previous government, which continues to rule for a transitional period, resigned on August 10 after the major explosion accident in the port of Beirut the previous week.
Almost impossible
Even if 48-year-old Adib forms a government, his mission is described as nearly impossible. Several previous governments have resigned in the face of huge and stubbornly persistent popular protests, which have also been violent at times, in the streets and squares of the country. Anger against the country’s elite is fueled by demands for constitutional changes and the harsh crackdown on widespread corruption.
The giant blast in Beirut, when nearly 190 people were killed, 6,500 injured and some 300,000 had their homes destroyed or damaged, has become a symbol of misrule. The background is always the collapsed economy and currency, state indebtedness, rampant poverty and the threat of state bankruptcy, not to mention the risks of a new civil war.
According to the World Bank, the explosion caused direct damage equivalent to 40 billion SEK and approximately 30 billion SEK in other negative effects on the economy.
Adib has a degree in law and political science and was a senior lecturer before becoming ambassador to Germany in 2013.
Do the protesters accept?
The political elite in Lebanon is small, and Mustafa Adib is a close ally of Sunni Muslim Najib Mikati, a billionaire who has been the country’s two-time prime minister, advising him on several occasions.
Therefore, the question is also whether the very authoritarian protesters in the streets, who have become a parallel but very heavy political force in the country, accept Adib.
At the same time, he himself seems keenly aware of the need for popular support and on Monday, wearing a neat white shirt, tie and mask, he set out for the Gemmayzeh area of Beirut, which was badly damaged by the August 4 explosion.
– I want your trust, he said to one of the neighbors.
No senior government official has visited the area since the explosion.
The devil and virtue
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to arrive in Lebanon. He has sounded the alarm about the risk of a civil war in Lebanon and signaled the need for a “profound change” in politics, which relies heavily on religious affiliation.
Several strong politicians, including President Michel Aoun, whom the protesters hated so much, have expressed their willingness to follow a more secular direction.
But it arouses suspicion among observers about the empty words that seem to go to meet Macron.
– When the political class talks about the introduction of marital status, it reminds me of the devil who talks about virtue, it does not go hand in hand, says political science professor Hilal Khashan.
– There is a big difference between raising a slogan and actually putting it into practice, he continues.
Clean-up work is still ongoing after the massive accident at the port of Beirut. Image: Gonzalo Fuentes
Lebanon is a secular republic where different religious groups share power according to a specific pattern, including the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the parliament a Shiite Muslim.
According to the constitution, parliamentary elections must be held every four years. But between 2009 and 2018, no elections were held due to political problems. It was also necessary until the turn of the year 2018-2019 before a government was established after the May 2018 elections.
The voting age is 21 years old. Soldiers cannot vote.
The 128 members of Parliament make the laws of the country.
Every six years, Parliament elects a president. Two-thirds of the votes of members of Parliament are required to be elected. If unsuccessful, a second round of elections will be held in which a simple majority is sufficient, that is, at least 50 percent of the vote.
The president appoints the prime minister in consultation with Parliament. The prime minister, in turn, appoints his government in consultation with the president.
The president is formally the commander-in-chief of the country, but the government controls the army.
The political divide in Lebanon has always been great and the power of the government is based on a balance between the largest religious groups in the country: Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, Christians and Druze.
Source: UI
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