Lebanon: demands of Shiite parties delay formation of government
From left to right: President of Parliament Nabih Berri, President Michel Aoun and the new Prime Minister Moustapha Adib, on August 31 at the presidential palace in Beirut.
REUTERS / Mohamed Azakir
Text by: Paul Khalifeh Follow
8 min
The two-week deadline agreed between Emmanuel Macron and the Lebanese political forces expired on Tuesday, September 15, without the new government seeing the light of day.
Under strong pressure, the Shiite parties have hardened their positions.
Publicity
Read more
Two weeks after being tasked with forming the new government, on August 31, Moustapha Adib has still not presented
his team
to the head of state, Michel Aoun.
This Monday, September 14, he went to the presidential palace empty-handed, without the envelope containing the names of the ministers and the distribution of portfolios, which the prime ministers usually give to the president.
He came out some time later to laconically announce to journalists the continuation of the consultations.
►
Read also: Lebanon: Emmanuel Macron announces the formation of the new government within 15 days
The 15-day deadline agreed between the main Lebanese political parties and French President Emmanuel Macron, during his visit to Beirut on September 1, to form a government, is coming to an end.
The Quai d'Orsay recalled this Monday: "
The priority must go to the rapid formation of a mission government that can implement the reforms essential to the recovery of the country,"
said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
All political forces subscribed to this objective.
It is up to them to translate this commitment into action without delay.
"
Shiites covet the Ministry of Finance
The Prime Minister-designate very quickly came up against the realities of the Lebanese confessional system.
The main obstacle came from the Amal movement and
Hezbollah
.
The two major Shiite parties demand that the Ministry of Finance, headed since 2014 by ministers appointed by Amal, be once again vested in them, otherwise they will not participate in the government and will not give it confidence in Parliament.
The "
Shiite tandem
", terms which designate in Lebanon the unwavering alliance between Hezbollah and Amal, affirms that the signature affixed by the Minister of Finance on all the decrees, alongside those of the President of the Maronite Republic and the Prime Minister Sunni, assures him a complete partnership in this country, where all the political functions and administrative positions are distributed on confessional bases.
However, Mustapha Adib did not seem inclined to follow this rule, which does not appear anywhere in the Constitution.
The Prime Minister-designate favored the rotation of ministerial posts in a small government of 14 members, and wanted to appoint "
independent
"
ministers
without consulting the political parties.
The argument advanced by the Shiite tandem to cling to the finance ministry does not convince many Lebanese, including among its allies.
Sunday, September 13, Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (CPL) and son-in-law of Michel Aoun, criticized this approach, although he is part of the parliamentary majority alongside Hezbollah and the Amal movement.
"
We are with the rotation [of ministries] but even if a community gets a portfolio several times [including this time], that does not set a permanent precedent
, however," Gebran Bassil said on Sunday.
The Constitution is clear in not devoting a portfolio to a specific community.
"
US sanctions complicate matters
Political opponents of the two Shiite parties, meanwhile, believe that their insistence on keeping the finance portfolio is due to the fear that the corruption cases accused of the speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, who also heads the Amal movement , are not revealed in broad daylight.
The entourage of the President of the House sweeps aside the accusations of corruption.
A close friend of Nabih Berri recognizes that the Constitution does not devote ministries to well-defined communities but stresses that the fundamental law does not specify either that the head of state must be Maronite, the Prime Minister Sunni and the speaker of parliament Shiite.
"
It is an unwritten agreement that has become part of the national pact,
" he said.
Why should it be any different for the Ministry of Finance, which guarantees the Shiites a genuine partnership in the political system through the signature?
"
The Shiite parties hardened their positions in the aftermath
of the sanctions adopted by the US Treasury
on September 8 against former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil.
Principal adviser to Nabih Berri, this deputy was accused by Washington of “
corruption
” and of supporting Hezbollah, considered as a terrorist organization by the United States.
Another former Minister of Public Works, Youssef Fenianos, a member of the Christian "
Marada
" party, an ally of Hezbollah, was also sanctioned by the US Treasury.
For Shiite political circles, the timing of this decision is not innocent.
It intervened just days after the initiative launched by Emmanuel Macron and in the midst of the government formation process by Moustapha Adib.
"
The objective is to exert pressure to weaken the position of the Shiites within the executive power and, secondly, to deprive Hezbollah of all legitimacy
", underlines the source close to Nabih Berri.
Salem Zahran, director of the Beirut-based Al-Irtikaz al-Ihlami research center, agrees.
He evokes an attempted “political coup d'état fomented by Lebanese and foreign parties” with the aim of isolating Hezbollah and imposing new power struggles that would torpedo the results of the legislative elections of 2018. “
During these elections. , Hezbollah, CPL, Amal and their allies obtained 56.5
% of the vote,
recalls Salem Zahran.
What is happening today is an attempt by the minority to seize executive power with support from abroad.
"
Was there a French turnaround?
However, Emmanuel Macron clearly said, during his two trips to Beirut, on August 6 and September 1, that the gravity of the situation in Lebanon called for "
national unity
" and required the participation of all political forces in the country. settlement of the multiple crises facing the country.
He was also keen to receive all representatives of political parties, including Hezbollah, to the chagrin of the Lebanese opponents of the Shiite party.
Even Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker, visiting Beirut on September 2, admitted "
differences
" with France over Hezbollah.
Emmanuel Macron during his press conference at the Residence Pine, the official residence of the French Ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, on September 1, 2020. REUTERS / Gonzalo Fuentes
However, circles close to the Shiite tandem believe that the French approach which consisted in associating all political forces in the attempt to save Lebanon has changed and "
has come closer to the American position whose priority is to isolate Hezbollah
".
A French diplomatic source in Beirut confirmed that "
the Shiite forces must give up the finance ministry and the CPL in the energy portfolio in the next government
".
Sent to Paris on September 9 by Michel Aoun, the director of the General Security, Abbas Ibrahim, heard the same speech from his French interlocutors.
The Shiites harden their positions
While Gebran Bassil's party has chosen not to participate in Adib's government while supporting the economic and financial reforms proposed by France, the Shiite parties have hardened their positions.
Nabih Berri announced that Hezbollah and the Amal movement wanted to appoint their ministers and demanded the finance portfolio, otherwise they will not participate in the government and will not trust him in parliament.
Deprived of the support of the Shiite component, the future government will find it difficult to start its mission under ideal conditions and will probably be unable to carry out the reforms demanded by the international community to grant emergency financial assistance in order to avoid the total collapse of Lebanon.
Faced with this complex picture, Moustapha Adib followed Michel Aoun's advice to postpone his government's announcement and to continue his consultations to try to find a solution.
To make it easier for him, the Head of State has started consultations with the parliamentary blocs in the hope of paving the way for the birth of the government on Thursday, September 17 at the latest.
But nothing is said in advance.
►Also read: Moustapha Adib, new Prime Minister of Lebanon, facing a titanic task
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Lebanon
On the same subject
Lebanon: Emmanuel Macron announces the formation of the new government within 15 days
Lebanon: Macron announces additional aid and calls for a "mission government"
Lebanon: Hassan Diab announces the resignation of the government