Lebanon: the president wants to abolish community sharing of sovereign portfolios

Michel Aoun, the Lebanese President on August 30, 2020. REUTERS

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

In Lebanon, three weeks after his appointment as Prime Minister, Moustapha Adib still fails to form a government due to conditions imposed by the political forces that control Parliament.

President Michel Aoun proposed this Monday, September 21, a way out of the crisis based on the rotation of the main ministries.

Publicity

Read more

From our correspondent in Beirut

,

Michel Aoun did not hide his concern about the situation in Lebanon.

" 

 " warned the head of state in a message to the nation on Monday, September 21, 2020.

The President of the Republic posed as arbiter between the Shiite and Sunni camps who clash over the composition of the future government, and thus delay the start of the economic and financial rescue initiative proposed by France.

The Shiites demand that the finance portfolio be assigned to them, while the Constitution does not stipulate that ministries must be entrusted to very specific communities, underlined Michel Aoun.

The head of state also criticized the position of Sunni forces, who refuse to allow parliamentary blocs, which must or must not trust the government, to be consulted in the cabinet formation process.

As a way out of the crisis, the president proposes the elimination of community distribution of the four main sovereign ministries, Defense, Interior, Finance and Foreign Affairs.

These portfolios were usually divided between Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Sunnis and Shiites.

Michel Aoun puts forward the idea of ​​rotating these portfolios to overcome the obstacle preventing Prime Minister-designate 

from forming his government.

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

• Michel Aoun