Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Unruffled by the gloomy prospects surrounding the Cabinet formation, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri struck an upbeat note about resolving the monthslong crisis, saying Lebanon had been able in the past to overcome more difficult crises. Hariri’s optimism came as caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil’s shuttle diplomacy has so far failed to make any tangible progress to resolve the problem of representing six Hezbollah-backed Sunni lawmakers from outside the Future Movement in the new Cabinet, the last remaining obstacle to the formation of a national unity government.
Also, as the three main parties involved in the issue Hariri, the six Sunni MPs and Hezbollah, which is strongly backing the MPs’ demand for representation in the next government refused to budge on their positions, fears grew that the Cabinet formation process, now in its sixth month, might drag on until the new year.
“So far, Bassil’s efforts have not made any breakthrough due to the conflicting positions of the parties concerned with the problem of representing the six Sunni MPs in the next government,” a political source familiar with the formation process told The Daily Star.
The six Sunni MPs have rejected a compromise which Bassil, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, was trying to promote in his flurry of talks with various leaders.
After meeting Friday at the residence of MP Walid Sukkarieh in Beirut, the six MPs said their demand to be represented in the new government by one of them was irreversible.
“It is the right of the Consultative Gathering [six MPs] to be represented in the government according to the agreed upon criteria. This matter is inevitable and irreversible imposed by the logic of fair representation in a national unity government,” Sukkarieh, who also belongs to Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, said in a statement after the meeting,
Bassil’s initiative, which was supported by Speaker Nabih Berri, had called for a compromise Sunni candidate to be named as a minister in the new Cabinet. The candidate would be part of President Michel Aoun’s share and acceptable to both the six MPs and Hariri.
Hariri this week reiterated his staunch refusal to cede one seat from the Future Movement’s share to the six MPs because they had not formed a unified political bloc. He also said Hezbollah was the only party responsible for blocking the government formation. Hariri was responding to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, who insisted in a televised speech last week that the six MPs be represented in the next government.
Hariri discussed the latest political developments and the Cabinet formation issue with former MP Walid Joumblatt, the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party who was accompanied by MP Wael Abu Faour during a dinner in a Beirut restaurant Friday night.
Hariri had met earlier in the day at his Beirut Downtown residence with caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, a key political aide to Berri, discussing the “general political situation and ministerial affairs,” a statement from the premier-designate’s media office said.
Hariri, who was designated on May 24 to form a national unity government embracing all the main political parties, expressed his belief in Lebanon’s ability to get out of the present political stalemate, pointing out that the country has managed to overcome crises that were more difficult in the past.
“It is true that the country is passing through a political impasse, but I believe in our ability to get out of this crisis, just as we were able to overcome crises that were more difficult in the past,” Hariri said during a dinner held in his honor Thursday night by the Vice President of the Beirut Chamber of Commerce, Gaby Tamer, attended by a number of economic figures and businessmen.
He called on everyone to work together, stressing the importance of the private sector’s role in promoting the country.
“When [former Prime Minister] Rafik Hariri came to the country, there was no budget or money and the country was destroyed [by the 1975-90 Civil War]. Despite all this, he was able to reconstruct the country and advance it. But he did this in cooperation with everybody. He worked with you, the private sector, the industrialists, traders, businessmen, bankers, lawyers and the youth, who are the main engine of the country,” he added, according to a statement released by Hariri’s media office Friday.
“Today, there are also new technologies, and this represents a real chance to get out of our present situation, but we have to start.”
Hariri highlighted the importance of the CEDRE conference to salvage the country’s ailing economy, saying Lebanon must implement reforms committed at the conference.
“The CEDRE conference was really successful for Lebanon. We were able to raise substantial funding for the infrastructure projects, funding that is long-term with very low interest rates,” he said.
“This allows us to renew all our infrastructure and secure funding for all the needed projects. The previous Parliament and government passed several laws to revitalize the economy. But today we are experiencing a political crisis which we hope will be solved.”
The CEDRE conference, held in Paris in April, raised over $11 billion grants and soft loans pledged by countries and international organizations to finance investment and infrastructure projects. Lebanon pledged at the conference to carry out structural reforms to revitalize the sluggish economy. However, the implementation of the reforms remains contingent on the formation of a new government.
Hariri called for cooperation by everyone to help advance the country. “I have hope but I frankly and honestly say that ‘one hand cannot clap alone.’ If you think that Saad Hariri will work alone in the country, then this is difficult. I am willing to work 24 hours per day with the youth in the country and with all those who want Lebanon to advance. But the others also have to work with us,” he said, adding that Lebanon cannot continue to do business as it used to do in the past.
“We have to carry out all the reforms that we committed to in CEDRE because we cannot continue with laws that go back to 50 or 60 years whether in commerce, justice or others,” Hariri said.
Meanwhile, a senior Hezbollah official called on Hariri to resolve the problem of the six Sunni MPs’ representation by naming one of them as a minister in the new Cabinet.
“Today, the decision is in the hands of the prime minister-designate because the problem is caused by him and the solution is with him. He [Hariri] can decide in line with the rule he set to represent each side according to its success in the parliamentary elections, and [subsequently] represent the independent Sunni MPs with one minister, which will resolve the problem,” Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said at a ceremony south of Beirut.
Qassem’s remarks drew a quick response from Ahmad Hariri, secretary general of the Future Movement, who accused Hezbollah of “full responsibility” for the delay in the Cabinet formation.
“Six months after efforts made by Prime Minister Hariri, the [new] Cabinet was ready two weeks ago and it only lacked the names the three Hezbollah ministers. If Hezbollah presents the names of its three ministers today, the Cabinet will be formed today,” Ahmad Hariri said in a statement.
“The problem lies with Hezbollah and the solution is with the prime minister-designate in accordance with his prerogatives and constitutional regulations,” he added
