Adib presses on with efforts to form govt as more obstacles emerge
Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib is facing fresh obstacles in his efforts to form a new government.
On Friday he met President Michel Aoun and presented a proposal for distributing the ministries among representatives of the various religious sects sources said. The two men will meet again on Saturday for further discussions. However, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement now insist all ministerial positions be filled by Shiites, not only the key role of finance minister.
Adib is attempting to form a government that will satisfy everybody, comprising a team of independent specialists from all religious sects who are not allied to the main political parties. This approach is based on a French initiative. “Adib, during his meeting with representatives of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement on Thursday evening, refused to accept from them a list of names of Shiites from which to choose a minister of finance,” a government source said. However, Adib faced growing pressure from Hezbollah allies on Friday. Grand Jaafari Mufti Ahmad Qabalan said: “We insist on nominating our ministers and we refuse to accept that anyone else will do that for us, no matter who he is.”
Marada Movement leader Suleiman Frangieh said he does not agree that Adib should choose who represents his party in
the government without consulting with him, and Talal Arslan, leader of the Lebanese Democratic Party, called on Adib to “show respect to parliamentary blocks.”
Economic experts warned that the continuing debates about the formation of the government are a “waste of precious time,” a luxury Lebanon does not have.
Lebanese academic Dr. Hares Sleiman said: “The options of Hezbollah and Amal Movement are determined by their priorities: Do they want to defend Iran’s quota … or do they want to have the livelihood of the Lebanese people as their priority?”
Adib is attempting to form a government that will satisfy everybody, comprising a team of independent specialists from all religious sects who are not allied to the main political parties.