Ghinwa Obeid and Joseph Haboush| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Political sources remained confident a new government would be formed over the weekend after last-minute fine-tuning held up finalizing the Cabinet lineup Friday. It was widely reported that the six Hezbollah-backed Sunni MPs would head to Baabda Palace to officially present Jawad Adra, the founder of consulting firm Information International, as their representative in the new government, thereby resolving the final obstacle.
But several hurdles appeared to have arisen.
For one, Adra did not attend a meeting held by the six MPs, together known as the “Consultative Gathering,” despite expectations.
Media reports have suggested Adra was yet to decide on whether he would accept the offer to be the group’s representative and therefore commit to its positions.
MP Qassem Hashem, one of the six, also appeared to hint that uncertainty on Adra’s part may have a factor, telling reporters after the Consultative Gathering’s meeting that any name President Michel Aoun chooses “from [our] four [official] nominees will exclusively represent the group and its policy.”
“We facilitated everything for a government to be formed, and we are committed to the president’s initiative,” Hashem said.
Last week, Aoun launched an initiative in a bid to resolve the issue of representing the six Sunni MPs, who are outside Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s Future Movement and whose demand to be part of the new Cabinet has held up the formation process since late October.
A key element of Aoun’s bid called for allotting a ministerial seat from the president’s share to the MPs; the minister would be a compromise candidate from outside their group rather than one of them, as they had previously demanded. A source close to Baabda Palace confirmed to The Daily Star that friction between Adra and the MPs was one of the reasons for the delay.
“There is a problem between Adra and the Consultative Gathering because there are sides within the group that are asking for clarity” on whether Adra’s allegiance will be to the six lawmakers or the president, the source said.
“And Adra doesn’t want to be considered as belonging to one political side or the other. It’s a bit of a mess.”
Adra is said to be close to Speaker Nabih Berri, who had suggested his name to the MPs, and the March 8 political camp. He also has a close relationship with Hariri and Aoun.
In addition to the reported misunderstanding between the group and Adra, the Baabda Palace source said, tweaking which parties will receive what ministerial portfolios resulted in the announcement’s delay.
“A change took place on who was going to retain the Industry Ministry. It was originally given to the Progressive Socialist Party, but then the Shiite [duo, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement] wanted it to take it,” the source said.
“Then there was an issue with the Environment and Agriculture ministries. When you make a change in one portfolio, that will impact the others,” they added.
Local media also reported that agreement had not been reached over the Information Ministry, though the Baabda source did not comment on this.
Consultations to reach a breakthrough nevertheless continued during the day at Hariri’s residence, in Downtown Beirut.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil met Hariri reportedly for three hours in the afternoon. Sources close to Bassil, who is also the caretaker foreign minister, said he went alone to the meeting.
Earlier in the day, Hariri had said he was “trying very hard to finalize the government.”
He also said that he expected “to have at least six women ministers in this government,” and that commitment to reforms that have been agreed upon to combat corruption will be part of the Cabinet’s policy statement.
“As a government, my focus is on the CEDRE reforms and the economy in general,” Hariri said, referring to the conference held in Paris in April to boost Lebanon’s infrastructure and economy.
“For me, without these reforms, it is like throwing money into the same basket where we have been throwing in the past.
“I think everybody in the government understands that the only way to move forward is to pass these reforms, execute CEDRE, with a committee that will follow up on it, from the international committee and the Lebanese part,” he added.
Aoun also referenced economic reforms, saying an economic development plan would be launched immediately after the new government is formed.
He noted that putting governments together in Lebanon takes time because all the main political sides need to be represented.
“The formation of the government takes a bit more time because the Lebanese system is based on consensus and requires the participation of all sides in a national entente government,” Aoun told visitors at Baabda Palace.