The Future Movement’s parliamentary bloc Sunday launched a scathing attack against President Michel Aoun, accusing him of obstructing the formation of cabinets for the sake of his son-in-law, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Gebran Bassil,
In a strongly worded statement, the bloc also warned against attempts to undermine the premiership’s position by filing charges against caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab for negligence in the Beirut Port explosion.
It was not immediately known whether the statement was issued after a meeting of the Future bloc.
One of Saad Hariri’s most important accomplishments is taking selfies with his fans. ?#الحريري_ما_بدو_يشكل pic.twitter.com/LzcTHt7jVe
— Jessica kfoury (@jessy_kfoury) December 10, 2020
The bloc’s tough statement came after a series of negative developments since Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri presented a draft Cabinet lineup to Aoun this week have brought government formation efforts back to square one, shattering hopes for a solution to the weekslong crisis anytime soon.
The Cabinet formation process, already stalled by disagreement between Aoun and Hariri over two conflicting government proposals, was further compounded by a widening negative political backlash with a sectarian tinge to a prosecutor’s charges against Diab and three former ministers for negligence in the port blast.
Worse still, the raging judicial row over charges filed Thursday by lead investigator in the port blast Judge Fadi Sawwan against Diab has inflamed sectarian tensions after the country’s top Sunni Muslim political and religious leaders rallied behind the caretaker premier, accusing Sawwan of targeting the premiership’s position for political purposes.
Aoun’s opponents have also accused the president of using the judiciary to settle political scores with them.
“Some people from every political and sectarian stripe came out in defense of justice and the judiciary just because national leaders and a national religious authority warned against undermining the premiership’s position and filing charges against the current prime minister in the case of the criminal explosion of Beirut’s Port and its residential surroundings,” the Future bloc said in its statement. It was referring to Hariri and other former premiers, as well as Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian, who rallied behind Diab after he was charged in connection with the port blast.
#الحريري_ما_بدو_يشكل
— Jess Sakr (@SakrJess) December 10, 2020
Hariri postpones the formation of the government and the main reasons are:
▪︎His fear of provoking Hezbollah
▪︎His fear of US sanctions..
Hariri is waiting for @JoeBiden to take power in the United States. pic.twitter.com/3Z9a3XiMS2
“Yes, there is a plan which we will not allow to pass, neither through the judiciary, nor through other means, to target the premiership’s position, a retaliatory plan against the Taif Accord which has achieved a real partnership in power and put an end to an era of monopolizing it and unilaterally administering its institutions,” the statement said.
“Yes, there is a scheme to contain and isolate the Sunni sect’s top position in Lebanon, either through intimidating the prime minister and charging him in the port case, or through intimidating political leaders who had held the premiership over the past 10 years and by sending a letter to Parliament including the former prime ministers in the list of those responsible for the port explosion,” it added.
The Future statement came as Hariri’s optimism about breaking the Cabinet deadlock had been dampened by a counter-proposal presented by Aoun to the premier-designate's draft Cabinet lineup.
A political source familiar with the matter said that shortly after Hariri Wednesday presented Aoun with a complete Cabinet lineup of 18 ministers of specialists, Bassil intervened and voiced his rejection of the proposed lineup.
Bassil, who heads the FPM’s Strong Lebanon bloc, the largest in Parliament with 24 MPs, had been accused in the past of delaying Cabinet formation for months with his insistence on key ministerial portfolios being allotted to his bloc.
The rejection of Hariri’s proposed Cabinet lineup was reflected in the statement issued by the presidency Wednesday night, nearly two hours after the premier-designate left Baabda Palace after submitting his first Cabinet lineup since he was designated to form a new government on Oct. 22.
While Hariri was waiting for Aoun’s response to his proposed Cabinet lineup, the president was also waiting for the premier-designate’s reply to his proposal.
There was no word Sunday as to when Aoun and Hariri would meet again to try to resolve differences over the two Cabinet proposals.
Implicitly accusing Aoun of obstructing the Cabinet formation, the Future bloc said: “It is their right to obstruct the formation of governments for the sake of [Aoun’s] son-in-law, or under the pretext of imposing criteria that allow heads of sects to name ministers, choose ministerial portfolios and maintain a veto power [in the government], even if the criteria compelled them to undercut the other sects’ shares. They don’t hesitate to mobilize supporters in front of the entrance of the presidential palace to protect the presidency’s position ... ”
The bloc’s statement said that the charges against Diab were aimed at “hitting other former premiers with one stone.”
“We are the victims in Beirut and we are the families of the victims [of the port blast]. We don’t accept anyone to outbid us. We, heads of governments, MPs and spiritual authorities, were and are still at the forefront of those demanding that justice be achieved and punishment against those negligent, guilty and responsible from top to bottom [for the port blast], but not on the basis of selective, politicized and partial justice,” the statement said.
The bloc lamented Aoun’s refusal of Hariri’s Cabinet lineup which, it said, “rose above partisan sharing of spoils and was intended to rescue Beirut from destruction and ruins.”
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai weighed in on the row over the charges against Diab by calling on Lebanese politicians to take their hands off the judiciary.
“We hope that the latest political, sectarian and legal reactions will not disrupt the investigation into the port explosion ... We also hope that the reactions will not cause national divisions on a sectarian basis which we find unjustified, especially since all of us are keen on the premiership’s position and other constitutional, national and religious positions,” Rai said in Sunday’s sermon in Bkirki, north of Beirut.
“Lebanon’s judiciary is a beacon of justice. Take your hands off [the judiciary] you politicians and confessional and sectarian figures, so that the judiciary can preserve only the honorable and brave judges who reject spiteful, selective and vengeful justice,” he added.
Feeling the pinch of campaigns against him, Aoun has denied meddling in the ongoing investigation into the massive Aug. 4 blast that devastated Beirut’s port and left large areas of the capital in ruins. The blast, the biggest Lebanon’s history, killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands, left 300,000 people homeless and caused losses worth billions of dollars.
“The president did not interfere with the investigations undertaken by the judge into the explosion in any form and has more than once called for speedy investigations to uncover the details of the crime and determine who was responsible,” said a statement issued by Aoun’s media office Saturday.
The statement said the investigation into the blast was not discussed during the Higher Defense Council session on Dec. 8, and therefore all reports that allege the president interfered with the investigation are fabrications.
Hariri, viewed to be Diab's foe, visited him the Grand Serail Friday to show solidarity with him.
Hezbollah also denounced the charges leveled against Diab, former Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, and former Public Works Ministers Ghazi Zeaiter and Youssef Fenianos, saying they were politically targeted and selectively charged and called on Sawwan to reconsider his decision. Sawwan is set to interrogate Diab at the Grand Serail Monday.
“The Cabinet formation process has been put on hold amid the ongoing political and sectarian tensions,” a political source said. “Doubts are growing that Hariri will be able to form a new Cabinet ahead of a visit to Lebanon by French President Emmanuel Macron later this month.”
Macron is scheduled to visit Beirut on Dec. 22-23, marking his third trip to the crises-stricken country since the port.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
