The paths to government formation remain blocked for the fourth day since the last visit of Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam to the Baabda presidential palace for updating president Josep Aoun . Salam resumed yesterday his communication with a number of parliamentary blocs but has not been able so far to complete the task . It was reported that he postponed a new visit to the presidential palace that was scheduled for yesterday .
It has become clear that the Shiite duo ( Amal and Hezbollah) is the main obstacle, but the Shiite duo is blaming the Christian blocs ,
According to several reliable sources, the facts are lined up against the Shiite duo.
The duo is repeating the same scenario as in the case of the presidential election”, Ali Hussein a Lebanese. analyst told Ya Libnan.
President Michel Aoun’s term ended on October 31 , 2022 and it took until January 9, 2025 to elect his replacement , president Joseph Aoun ( They are not related
It is no secret that there is external and internal pressure to withhold the Ministry of Finance from the Shiite duo, even if it remains the Shiite share as for the past decade. This pressure is due to the concern of the friendly countries that are trying to get Lebanon out of the financial crises .
The Ministry of Finance has been under Amal and Hezbollah’s control for the past 10 years. This is the period when Lebanon defaulted on its Euro bonds, which resulted in their collapse and the collapse of the Lebanese currency( Lira) and made both almost worthless. This is also the period when the Lebanese depositors lost the ability to access their bank accounts, which raised the poverty level to over 80%. This is also the period when an explosion rocked the capital Beirut after the blast of the Beirut port which was caused by the explosion of thousands of tons of explosive chemicals that were stored there illegally by Hezbollah for use by the Syrian regime in is barrel bombs against civilians “ .This is also the period when Lebanon’s Central Bank chief became the target of investigations over corruption , theft and embezzlement of funds. An arrest warrant was issued by France against Riad Salameh but Amal chief Speaker Nabih Berri in collaboration with his ally PM Najib Mikati refused to cooperate with Interpol in allowing his extradition to Europe. ,
In addition to the failure of the Shiite due in managing the Finance ministry , they used it to obstruct other ministries by imposing unrealistic conditions on any of the projects that were proposed.
According to analysts, if the Shiite duo does not cooperate with PM Salam over government formation, the displaced people ( mainly Shiites ) will be the ones that will rise against the due because they will not be able to return home anytime soon , because none of the friendly countries ( Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United States ) that vowed to rebuild Lebanon will be willing to help in the reconstruction of tens of thousands of destroyed homes.
In its editorial last Week Ya Libnan called for declaring a state of Emergency in Lebanon if Salam was unable to quickly form a cabinet :
“The Prime Minister-designate of Lebanon must take a firm stance against the monopolization of any ministry by any political group. If he finds himself unable to form a government due to this entrenched practice, President Joseph Aoun should immediately exercise constitutional authority to declare a state of emergency and appoint a cabinet of impartial experts. This decisive action is necessary to prevent Lebanon from further sinking into political and economic despair. ” Ya Libnan Editorial Board wrote .
Analyst Ali Hussein went a step further and urged president Aoun to “dissolve the parliament if it does not grant its vote of confidence to the newly formed cabinet and call for early election”. “Enough is enough ” . He added by saying ” Time to rebuild Lebanon and not destroy it again as the duo has been doing for the last 20 years
Source : Lebanon files , translated from Arabic