Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star
The head of General Security is set to meet with a group of six Hezbollah-backed Sunni MPs Tuesday in an eleventh-hour push to eliminate the last remaining hurdle to the formation of a new government ahead of the holiday season, political sources said. Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim met Monday with Speaker Nabih Berri at Ain al-Tineh, discussing proposals to resolve the problem of representing the six Sunni lawmakers in the new government.
He is slated to meet with the six MPs not affiliated with the Future Movement over lunch at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the residence of MP Abdel-Rahim Mrad, one of the six Sunni lawmakers.
“Maj. Gen. Ibrahim is coming with a host of ideas for discussion in hopes of reaching an agreement on our representation,” Walid Sukkarieh, one of the six MPs, told The Daily Star Monday night.
Although he said the six MPs were not aware of Ibrahim’s ideas, Sukkarieh clearly signaled their readiness to accept to be represented in the new government by someone from outside their group, thus abandoning their insistence to be represented by one of them.
“Before we name our candidate to the Cabinet, we first demand the recognition of our right to be represented in a national unity government and that we represent a large segment of the Lebanese people and the Sunni sect,” he said.
Sukkarieh, who also belongs to Hezbollah’s 13-member parliamentary bloc, said the six MPs’ recognition can be achieved through Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s acceptance to meet with them, or by a statement issued by him in this respect.
“Once this is done, we will then name an independent candidate to represent the Consultative Gathering [the group of six MPs] in the new Cabinet, who does not belong to any bloc, and not even be a part of the president’s share,” Sukkarieh added. Ibrahim, known for his successful mediation efforts in the past to settle internal political conflicts, is acting in tandem with President Michel Aoun’s initiative launched last week with the aim of resolving the issue of representing the six MPs in the new government. The Daily Star’s attempts to reach Ibrahim for comment were not successful.
The General Security chief’s flurry of activity comes amid rising hopes for the formation of a new Cabinet before the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Political sources spoke of a positive atmosphere at Baabda Palace and an imminent breakthrough in the 7-month-old Cabinet deadlock that could lead to the formation ahead of the holiday season.
“Efforts have been intensified with a view to accelerating the Cabinet formation,” a political source familiar with the formation process told The Daily Star, commenting on Ibrahim’s moves. Ahead of their meeting with Ibrahim, the six MPs stressed that any initiative that does not recognize their right to a ministerial portfolio is doomed to fail.
In a statement issued after their meeting at Mrad’s residence in the absence of MP Faisal Karami who was outside the country, the MPs said they appreciated Aoun’s efforts to resolve the problem.
“With our understanding of the delicate socio-economic and financial situation and the dangers surrounding the nation, and given our feeling of national responsibility, the parliamentary Consultative Gathering affirms that any initiative that does not recognize its right to participate in a national unity government, based on the respect of the parliamentary election results and the respect of the popular legitimacy that we represent, is doomed to fail,” the statement read by MP Jihad al-Samad said. “Therefore, the situation remains as it is until further notice,” it added.
The Central News Agency said Ibrahim’s mediation attempt is based on “mutual concessions,” whereby a meeting would be held between Hariri and the six MPs at Baabda Palace under Aoun’s sponsorship.
Following the meeting, the six MPs will name a candidate from outside their group to represent them in the next Cabinet and who will be part of the president’s share, the agency added.
A meeting between Aoun and Hariri, deemed “crucial” for breaking the Cabinet stalemate, was not held Monday as widely expected, apparently to allow more time for mediation efforts to agree on a compromise solution to the six MPs’ representation problem.
The demand for representation by the six MPs has held up the Cabinet formation since late October. Hariri has rejected the MPs’ demand and also rebuffed their request to meet with him to discuss the issue.
When they meet, Aoun will brief Hariri on the outcome of his consultations with the main political parties last week and is also expected to urge the premier-designate to meet with the six MPs in a bid to reach a compromise on their representation that could eventually clear the way for the government formation, a political source had told The Daily Star.
A key element of Aoun’s initiative calls for representing the six lawmakers in the next government from the president’s share with a candidate from outside their group, the source said.
Hezbollah MP Nawaf Musawi said the recognition of the six MPs’ right to representation in the next Cabinet is the key to resolving the problem.
“We have read about positive indications, including the recognition of the principle of representing the Consultative Gathering MPs. We believe that the recognition of this principle constitutes a reasonable gateway to resolving this national problem,” Musawi said in a statement.
Hezbollah has withheld the names of its three ministers, effectively blocking the Cabinet formation, until the MPs’ demand for representation has been met.
MP Chamel Roukoz, from the Free Patriotic Movement’s parliamentary Strong Lebanon bloc, struck an upbeat note about the Cabinet formation.
“Things are close to conclusion in the Cabinet formation issue,” he told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.
Roukoz defended the six MPs’ right to be represented in the new government according to the criteria adopted in the formation process.
“President Michel Aoun’s concern is for the government to be formed as soon as possible. The country can no longer endure at the economic, political and social levels,” he said.
Caretaker Tourism Minister Avedis Guidanian also was hopeful about the Cabinet formation soon. “We are at a very close distance from the Cabinet formation. We must narrow differences,” he told the Free Lebanon radio station.
Guidanian said he had heard from Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri that there is a “serious initiative” to break the Cabinet impasse that needs Hariri’s approval.
“I think everyone recognizes that the six Sunni MPs must be represented in the government. But the dispute is over the way to represent them,” he added.
