The political crisis between the Presidency of the Republic and Prime Minister designate Saad Hariri, who returned to Lebanon this very Friday to attend the session, is now before Parliament. The President of the Chamber thus decided to postpone this session to this Saturday, 2 p.m.
As a reminder, the Presidency of the Republic accuses Saad Hariri of being at the origin of the delays in setting up this cabinet while the local social and economic situation continues to deteriorate. As for the prime minister-designate, he maintains his positions in favor of an 18-member government and refuses the President of the Republic to appoint Christian ministers within his cabinet, accusing him moreover of seeking to obtain a right of veto. .
On the side of parliamentarians close to the presidency, the deputy Alain Aoun estimated that the process of forming the next cabinet has failed and that communication between the presidency of the republic and the house of the center is now cut.
Side of the Current of the Future, it is estimated that nothing in the constitution allows to withdraw the appointment of the prime minister, notes the deputy Hadi Hobeiche, who accuses the president of being responsible for blocking the training process.
A country without a government as the economic crisis hits it hard
Lebanon has been without government since the resignation, on August 10, of outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
The formation of a new government is considered as one of the preconditions for the relaunch of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in order to obtain the release of financial aid from the international community in the face of the economic crisis that Lebanon is going through.
Following Mustafa Adib’s failure to form a cabinet, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned following major protests in October 2019, was tasked with forming a new government in October 2020.
In an attempt to unblock the situation, the former prime minister promised the Amal movement to allocate the portfolio of the finance ministry to a member of the Shiite community. He also reiterated that Lebanon could do without a state of default, thus denying the gravity of the economic crisis however experienced by the population, with 55% of it now living below the poverty line while the economic recession has reached 29% according to some reports for the year 2020.
However, Saad Hariri’s proposals for an 18-member cabinet clash with the Presidency of the Republic, who points out that if the Shiite and Sunni communities choose their representatives, the Christian representatives in the new cabinet would also be chosen by the former. designated minister. General Aoun de facto considers that the current proposals of the Prime Minister contravene both the Lebanese constitution and the national pact.
The latter, for his part, accuses the head of state of wanting to obtain a blocking third party within his new cabinet.
