ANSD : Accord to clear way for start of Cabinet

SAT 23 - 11 - 2024

Date: Feb 2, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Accord to clear way for start of Cabinet

_{Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star}
BEIRUT: An understanding among the main parties on divisive issues, such as Hezbollah’s arms and ties with Syria in the policy statement, will pave the way for the new government to get off to a smooth start, political sources said Friday.

The 30-member national unity Cabinet is set to hold its first session at Baabda Palace at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, devoted mainly to taking a souvenir picture of the new ministers along with President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The meeting, to be chaired by Aoun, would also form a committee designed to draft the Cabinet’s policy statement on whose basis it would seek a vote of confidence from Parliament.

Meanwhile, the United States and France were among a host of countries welcoming the Cabinet formation. But Washington, which labels Hezbollah a “terrorist” organization, warned that it was concerned with the Iranian-backed party’s new role in Hariri’s third government.

A statement from the U.S. State Department expressed worry that Hezbollah was included in the Cabinet and has named the new health minister. “We call on the new government to ensure the resources and services of these ministries do not provide support to Hezbollah,” deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino said in the statement.

French President Emmanuel Macron also praised the government formation, reaffirming his commitment to Lebanon. “President Emmanuel Macron reaffirms his commitment to the sovereignty, stability and security of Lebanon, underlining the importance of the policy of dissociation and the fight against terrorism,” a statement from the Elysee Palace said.

Among the key divisive issues that would be highlighted in the Cabinet’s policy statement are: Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal, relations with Syria amid demands by Hezbollah and its allies to normalize ties with the Syrian regime, the future of more than 1 million Syrian refugees, and reforms demanded by the CEDRE conference to bolster the country’s struggling economy.

“There should be no problem in the government’s policy statement, which must not take long to be drafted,” a political source familiar with the Cabinet issue told The Daily Star.

“There is already an understanding among the main parties making up the outgoing and new governments on key issues to be contained in the policy statement: Hezbollah’s arms, ties with Syria, the issue of displaced Syrians, and the CEDRE conference reforms,” the source added.

The source noted that the government, under the Constitution, has one month to draw up a blueprint outlining its priorities before it starts working.

Youth and Sports Minister Mohammad Fneish, who retained his post in the new Cabinet, declined to say if the policy statement would pose a problem for the government to begin working.

“On the face of it, there is no divisive atmosphere over the policy statement,” Fneish, one of three Hezbollah ministers, told The Daily Star. “We hope that the spirit of understanding and cooperation will prevail among the ministers so that the government can begin working quickly to deal with urgent economic and social problems.”

However, May Chidiac, minister of state for administrative development, one of four ministers representing the Lebanese Forces, warned that calls by Hezbollah and its allies for normalizing ties with the Syrian regime would pose a problem to the policy statement. She called for putting contentious issues aside so that the government can begin working quickly.

“We hope that there will be no problem over the policy statement. But if some parties call for normalizing ties with the Syrian regime, this would create a problem,” Chidiac told The Daily Star.While Hezbollah, the Amal Movement and their allies have called for normalizing ties with the Syrian regime, Hariri, the LF and the Progressive Socialist Party staunchly oppose any contacts with the regime before a political settlement is reached to end the 8-year-old war in Syria. Yet, the two neighboring countries have embassies in each other’s country.

On the issue of Hezbollah’s arms, Berri had declared that the new government was expected to adopt the same formula upheld by the outgoing Cabinet. Despite reservations voiced by the LF’s ministers, the policy statement emphasized that the government would spare no effort to liberate remaining occupied land, while stressing “the right of the state with its institutions and people to resist Israeli occupation and repulse its attacks.”

Chidiac said the LF ministers would again voice reservations over this compromise formula if it was adopted. The formula substituted Hezbollah’s controversial tripartite equation: “The Army, the people and the resistance” as a means of facing any possible Israeli attack on Lebanon.

Aoun said the Cabinet formation had renewed confidence in the country after a period of doubts over the monthslong delay.

“The formation has revived the financial market, particularly the dollar-dominated sovereign Lebanese bonds, lifting them to their highest level since July 2018,” Aoun said, speaking to visitors at Baabda Palace.

The announcement of the Cabinet lineup Thursday ended an eight-month political deadlock that paralyzed state institutions and threatened to put in jeopardy over $11 billion in grants and soft loans pledged at the CEDRE conference held in Paris last year.

After news of the formation emerged, Lebanon’s sovereign dollar bonds rallied. The bond maturing in 2037 jumped 4.3 cents to the highest since early August 2018, while the 2025 issue jumped more than 3 cents to the highest since July 2018, Tradeweb data showed.

In his first comment on the Cabinet formation, Berri spoke of “good intentions” that would help the ministers to begin work.

LBCI channel quoted Berri as saying that no single party or parliamentary bloc gained 11 ministers or a veto power in the new Cabinet.

Following the Cabinet formation, there is no need for a parliamentary legislative session to study bills related to financial and economic issues, Berri was quoted as saying.

Berri said he did not expect the drafting of the policy statement to take more than a week after which he would call for a Parliament vote of confidence session.

Yet, the new government’s main challenge is to actively revitalize the sluggish economy.

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