Parliament Speaker and Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri informed Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib that his party will not participate in the Cabinet, according to a statement issued by his office Sunday.
“We informed the prime minister-designate ... that we do not have the desire to participate in the next government,” the statement said.
Berri told Adib that his party is ready to cooperate to the fullest extent for Lebanon’s stability and to save the economy.
“The problem is not with the French, but it is internal and from inside,” the statement said, as reports emerged that Berri had received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron Saturday, during which he refused to give up the Finance Ministry.
Adib faces a 15-day deadline to form a new Cabinet, a self-imposed deadline by when Lebanese politicians promised Macron Sept. 2 a new government would be formed. Disagreements had emerged over the size and nature of the government in addition to the idea of rotating key ministries among leading parties.
Amal, backed by Hezbollah, had insisted the Finance Ministry remain under a Shiite minister, posing a great impediment for Adib to complete his task of forming the new Cabinet.
Berri's insistence grew after the US imposed sanctions on his top aide and former Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil. He recently said that it is a norm for a Shiite minister to take over the Finance Ministry despite the fact that the ministry has been held by four Shiite ministers since the Taif Accord in 1990. Two Shiite ministers held the position in the '90s, and two since 2014, including current caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni. It was held by Sunnis and Maronites in-between.
Free Patriotic Movement head Gebran Bassil also announced Sunday that his party would not be a part of the next Cabinet, but would support it.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
