Will France's appeals be heard?

Emmanuel Macron continues to urge the Lebanese political class to keep their commitments and quickly form a new government capable of pulling the country out of the crisis.

Lebanese officials pledged, on September 1, during a visit by the Head of State, to form a government made up of technicians within two weeks, a deadline which is thus fast approaching.

According to an official source, the Prime Minister-designate, Mustapha Adib, is expected to present the composition of his government to Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Monday, negotiations which in the past required several months due to the complexity of the political balances to be respected.

"The [French] president is continuing his calls with the various Lebanese political actors, as he had committed to," one declared at the Elysee Palace, without further details.

Emmanuel Macron spoke on Saturday by phone with the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, in an attempt to remove a major obstacle concerning the holder of the finance portfolio, historically vested in a Shiite, said a close friend of Nabih Berri.

A "foreign pressure"

The latter, who heads the Amal movement, a Shiite party allied with powerful Hezbollah, said his party disagreed with the prime minister's method of forming the government and that he did not wish to enter it under these conditions.

On the other hand, he said he was always ready to cooperate in order to restore the stability of the country.

Deploring a lack of consultation, Nabih Berri also alluded to "foreign pressure" to form the cabinet.

The same expression was used in a speech Sunday by another Hezbollah ally, Christian leader Gebran Bassil.

Multi-billion dollar international aid was pledged to Lebanon in 2018, but these funds remain on hold pending a credible structural reform plan.

A "road map" set by France includes a series of measures aimed at combating endemic corruption in the country and at restoring the economic situation in Lebanon, which notably involves restructuring the financial sector, while the course of the pound is in free fall, plunging many Lebanese into poverty.

Historical sharing of portfolios 

Miserly with public statements, Mustapha Adib, a Sunni diplomat, would however be determined according to several sources to question the historical sharing of ministerial portfolios on a confessional basis.

Any new government must, however, benefit from the support of the main denominational components of the country.

>> Read also on France24.com: One month after the explosion in Beirut, "rebuilding souls"

According to Lebanese political sources, the decision taken last week by the United States to sanction allies of Hezbollah, considered a "terrorist" organization by Washington, did not facilitate Mustapha Adib's task.

With Reuters

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