No solution has yet been found to allow the resumption of the Mikati III government meetings, while the president of the chamber Nabih Berri tries to increase the pressure against Judge Tarek Bitar, whose dismissal he demands. As a reminder, the latter had indicted several relatives of Nabih Berri as part of the investigation into the explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate on August 4, 2020, including the former Minister of Finance Ali Hassan Khalil and the former Minister of Public Works, Ghazi Zoaiter. Nabih Berri would thus feel personally implicated by this procedure.
Faced with this failure to dismiss the judge, Nabih Berri would now seek to dismiss the president of the high council of the judiciary, Judge Souhail Abboud. Some sources indicate that he would have proposed in return, the departure of the Attorney General of the Republic, Judge Ghassan Oweidat and of the Financial Prosecutor, Judge Ibrahim Ali.
Another solution advocated by Nabih Berri, the adoption by the parliament of a text aimed at bringing the former ministers accused before the high court of justice responsible for trying the former and current presidents of the republic, prime ministers and ministers.
However, this procedure would require an impossible quorum for the time being to meet due to the refusal of the Free Patriotic Current with which a new conflict is in progress concerning the date of the legislative elections to come. As a reminder, the president of the chamber had passed an electoral law calling for the holding of elections in March 2022 with a simple quorum of 55 deputies following the death of some of them and the resignation of others, contrary to the texts. constitutional provisions which specify that the quorum is equivalent to half of the 128 deputies.
Some sources close to the CPL indicate that the latter could nevertheless agree to be present during the session if the president of the chamber agrees to have the governor of the Banque du Liban Riad Salamé dismissed, after the president of the republic had him. formally accused of negligence on the basis of the investigations in progress against him and in particular of the file provided by the Swiss judicial authorities who accuse him of laundering and embezzlement of funds from the Banque du Liban. The head of state would be all the more angry that the governor of the Banque du Liban would have lied to him about the real state of the losses of the Banque du Liban, losses which are the subject of a forensic audit procedure. led by Alvarez & Marsal until the end of the year. The BdL is still refusing to provide certain key documents to the cabinet even though the deadline specified by the law lifting banking secrecy ends at the end of the year, ie in barely 10 days.
This dismissal would for the moment be blocked by Nabih Berri but also Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Riad Salamé would also benefit from the support of former prime minister Saad Hariri, former deputy Walid Joumblatt and Maronite patriarch Béchara Boutros Rahi.