Aoun, Hariri Discuss Measures to Break Cabinet Impasse in Lebanon

President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri are set to meet Tuesday in the latest attempt to resolve differences over the formation of a new Cabinet with chances of achieving a breakthrough in the weekslong deadlock rated at 50 percent, an official source said Monday.

The planned Aoun-Hariri meeting comes against the backdrop of mediation efforts made by Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rai in the past few days. These efforts aimed at facilitating the formation of a new government desperately needed to deliver reforms, in order to halt the country’s much-feared economic collapse and rebuild Beirut following the deadly Aug. 4 explosion that devastated Beirut Port.

Rai, who has been calling for the swift formation of a Cabinet of independent and nonpartisan experts to carry out reforms, met last week with Hariri at his seat in Bkirki, before he met two days later with Aoun at Baabda Palace and also with the president’s son-in-law, Free Patriotic Movement head MP Gebran Bassil, in Bkirki. Rai’s talks with the three focused on ways to bridge the gap between Aoun and Hariri over the shape and makeup of the next government.

Also mediating in the Cabinet crisis is General Security head Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who had met separately with Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in an effort to speed up the government formation, the official source said.

“President Aoun and Prime Minister Hariri will meet Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to make a breakthrough in the Cabinet stalemate. However, the chances of achieving a breakthrough stand at 50 percent,” the official source familiar with the matter told The Daily Star, reflecting lingering rifts between Aoun and Hariri, especially over the naming of nine Christian ministers in the proposed 18-member Cabinet, a major bone of contention between the two leaders that had delayed the formation.

The source said Aoun and Hariri would try to agree on “a modified Cabinet formula” to replace the draft Cabinet lineup presented by the premier-designate to the president earlier this month.

After presenting Aoun on Dec. 9 with his first draft Cabinet lineup since his designation, Hariri sounded upbeat about forming a new government soon to deliver reforms. But Hariri’s optimism has since faded by a counter-Cabinet proposal presented by Aoun and also by the eruption of a “war of words” between the two leaders, who aired their differences over the makeup of the new Cabinet, with each blaming the other for the delay.

Aoun’s unprecedented move of presenting a counter-Cabinet proposal was viewed as a rejection of Hariri’s proposed Cabinet lineup.

“During their last meeting, Aoun had asked Hariri to adopt unified criteria in the distribution of ministerial portfolios among sects in order for the new government to stand fast and its mission not to get obstructed,” the source said.

He added that Aoun and Hariri would explore a solution to the problem of the nine Christian ministers. The source denied media reports that Aoun was seeking a ministerial share of seven ministers that would grant him veto power in the proposed 18-member Cabinet, or one-third of the 18 ministers plus one.

However, Future Movement officials have accused Bassil of obstructing the Cabinet formation with his conditions, which include acquiring veto power.

Tuesday’s will be the 13th meeting between Aoun and Hariri since the latter was designated to form a new government on Oct. 22. It comes amid a sudden escalation by the FPM which accused Hariri of seeking to overstep the president’s constitutional power in the Cabinet formation process.

The FPM Saturday also accused the premier-designate of insisting on bypassing the National Pact on equal power sharing between Muslims and Christians and “not adopting clear and unified criteria to deal with all the Lebanese” in the Cabinet formation.

The Future Movement struck back by accusing the FPM of renewing its call for unified criteria in the Cabinet formation with the aim of acquiring veto power, something it said would not happen.

Hariri said last week that Aoun and the FPM demanded the veto power in the next government. Hariri staunchly rejects granting any party veto power in the proposed Cabinet. Hariri also disclosed that Aoun wanted a government in which all political parties are represented, which runs contrary to the premier-designate’s decision to exclude representatives of those parties.

Speaking to visitors at Baabda Palace Monday, Aoun compared the fight against corruption to the struggle for the formation of a new government. He stressed that there would be no reforms in Lebanon without eliminating corruption rampant in the public administration.

“Corruption is the biggest catastrophe in Lebanon because it is like a chronic disease that persists with time. There will be no reforms in Lebanon unless [corruption] is eliminated,” Aoun said in his remarks, which were carried by the state-run National News Agency.

“The battle to eliminate corruption is very delicate but we will never back down. This is a pledge I have made and I have sworn on it and I will not back down,” he added.

Ironically, hopes for a Cabinet breakthrough were shattered when French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit, set for Tuesday, was canceled after Macron tested positive for COVID-19. The cancellation of the visit by Macron, whose country has emerged as the main power broker in Lebanon since the port blast, has heightened fears of a prolonged Cabinet standoff with all the dire consequences this entails for the country’s ailing economy and internal stability.

This article has been adapted from its original source. 

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