ANSD : Hariri set to consult with blocs on shape of new Cabinet

FRI 3 - 5 - 2024

Date: May 28, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

Hariri set to consult with blocs on shape of new Cabinet

_{Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star}
BEIRUT: Armed with an overwhelming parliamentary support, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is set to begin daylong consultations Monday with blocs and independent lawmakers on the shape of the new government.

Hariri’s planned consultations come amid a string of promises made by the leaders of the country’s major parliamentary blocs to help facilitate the formation of a national unity government that would represent all the parties.

The premier-designate will begin his consultations in Parliament by meeting first with Speaker Nabih Berri at 11 a.m., followed by separate meetings with former prime ministers Najib Mikati and Tammam Salam and Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli, according to a statement released by Parliament’s general secretariat.

Hariri’s meetings with members of parliamentary blocs will culminate in separate meetings in the afternoon with eight independent lawmakers. The consultations are scheduled to end at 4:20 p.m.

However, it remains to be seen whether the blocs’ promises to facilitate the Cabinet formation will translate into action when they present their requests to Hariri for certain ministerial portfolios.

Hariri, who won the support of 111 out of the newly elected 128 members of Parliament during President Michel Aoun’s binding consultations with parliamentary blocs last week, has pledged to quickly form a “national entente government.”

Hariri’s reappointment to the premiership for the third time came a day after the new legislature re-elected Berri as Parliament speaker for a sixth consecutive four-year term, unchallenged. Berri, who has served as Parliament speaker since 1992, gained 98 votes against 29 blank ballots and one vote that was annulled during Parliament’s first session last Wednesday since legislative elections were held on May 6.

It came a day after the new Parliament began its four-year mandate.

Ahead of Monday’s consultations, Hariri sounded upbeat about the Cabinet formation, saying there were no major hurdles in the way of forming a new government.

“We want a national accord government, and the regional situation will accelerate its formation as long

as there is internal consensus,” Hariri told reporters after paying visits to former prime ministers Friday, as is customary. He reiterated his decision that the Future Movement would prevent its party’s MPs from also serving as Cabinet ministers.Hariri has also rejected the notion that recent U.S. sanctions against key Hezbollah leaders would hinder the formation of a new government. “The [U.S.] sanctions on Hezbollah will not delay the formation but rather they might accelerate the government’s birth,” he said.

However, despite calls by Aoun, Berri and Hariri for a swift formation of a new Cabinet, many politicians fear the government formation could be delayed for months by horse-trading and haggling over the so-called “sovereign” ministerial portfolios of Defense, Finance, Interior and Foreign Affairs.

Other key ministries to be contested by rival factions are those dealing with public services such as the Public Works, Telecommunications, Energy and Water and Education Ministries.

The government’s policy statement could also be a bone of contention, particularly concerning Hezbollah’s arms and its resistance against Israel, amid calls by the Future Movement and other parties that the Lebanese Army should be solely responsible for defending Lebanon against any possible Israeli attack.

One of the hurdles that could face Cabinet’s formation is that the Progressive Socialist Party, led by former MP Walid Joumblatt, was reported to have sent a letter to Hariri demanding a “full Druze share in the government” interpreted as a way of preventing MP Talal Arslan from being named a minister.

Prolonged negotiations over Cabinet have been common in Lebanon’s recent history. In 2009, it took Hariri 135 days to form a Cabinet while it took him just 45 days in 2016.

It took Mikati and Salam months to put together a national unity government representing all the rival factions following wrangling over who gets what ministerial portfolio.

During their first meeting last week since the May 6 elections, Berri and Hezbollah leader General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah called for the swift formation of an “expanded national unity government that reflects correct representation.” They expressed their satisfaction with the results of the elections, Berri’s re-election as speaker and Hariri’s reappointment to the premiership, according a statement released by Hezbollah’s media office Saturday.

Berri and Nasrallah also stressed the need for serious efforts to combat corruption in the public administration, and they agreed on “appropriate mechanisms to address economic, financial and administrative issues.”

Despite the strong showing in the elections made by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, Nasrallah said his party would not set conditions for joining the new government. He also denied reports that Hezbollah was seeking a “sovereign” ministerial portfolio.

“We are looking forward for a strong, effective and serious government with the widest representation of all parliamentary blocs,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech Friday to mark the 18th anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon.

“We want a quick formation of the government in the interest of the country because there are many issues that need to be tackled.”

Former Minister Wael Abu Faour from the parliamentary Democratic Gathering bloc led by Joumblatt’s son, newly elected MP Teymour Joumblatt, said the next Cabinet “must respect the results of parliamentary elections.”

“While we congratulate Prime Minister Saad Hariri with his redesignation to the premiership with this overwhelming confidence, we hope that this confidence will not be just in naming him, but in facilitating the Cabinet formation process,” Abu Faour said during a PSP iftar in the town of Rashaya.

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, implicitly accused the Lebanese Forces of using claims of isolation to get a bigger share in the new government.

“They have started to resort to [claims of] isolation, in order to gain sympathy and make extra political gains,” Bassil said in a tweet Saturday. “There is no isolation, everyone should be satisfied with the size of their representation and they [LF] will be represented. Their demands, meetings, complaints and nagging at home and seeking strength from abroad will not benefit them,” he added.

It has been reported that the LF is asking to head key ministries, having upped its representation in Parliament from eight to 15.

The LF is, in particular, seeking to retain its control over the deputy prime ministership, though the FPM is likely vying for the post as well.

The LF was also reported to have requested that it be allotted the Energy and Water Ministry that has been held for years by the FPM.

Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani, one of three LF ministers in the outgoing Cabinet, rejected attempts to isolate his party.

“No one can isolate an essential party that has doubled its size in the parliamentary elections. This issue is always possible but it is almost impossible despite some media and attempts at escalation. We hope the government will be formed as soon as possible,” Hasbani said in a TV interview Sunday.

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