On the government front, no progress has been seen in the tug-of-war between the Presidency of the Republic and the Prime Minister-designate, as Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri prepares to lobby with a proposal calling for the formation of a cabinet of 24 non-partisan specialists without veto rights of any party.
This umpteenth could occur as soon as Saad Hariri returns to Lebanon, the latter having returned to Abu Dhabi after the parliamentary session devoted to the reading of the letter from the President of the Republic addressed to Parliament, last Friday, and the debate organized the following Saturday. .
According to some sources, the dispute between the 2 men would still run up against the appointment of Christian ministers of the next cabinet and the attribution of the ministries of justice and the interior, which became critical after the indictment of certain relatives of the first. Minister-designate Saad Hariri.
Thus the president of the chamber, on an idea of the former deputy Walid Joumblatt, would propose the establishment of a government of 24 members including eight ministers to the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, eight ministers to Prime Minister Saad Hariri and eight ministers to the Amal de Berri movement, Hezbollah and their allies. If this proposal is accepted, a government could even be announced within 2 weeks.
As a reminder, this proposal had previously been rejected by Saad Hariri who would like the formation of a government of 18 members. He had thus proposed this formula on December 9, a formula in turn rejected by the Presidency of the Republic. For his part, Saad Hariri accused the Presidency of the Republic and the Free Patriotic Current of wanting to obtain a right of veto within the next cabinet. He also believed that the president wanted to change the Lebanese constitution by seeking his resignation.
