BEIRUT, Feb 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Lebanon announced a government line-up
Thursday, ending an eight-month wait that had heightened fears of a major
economic collapse.
The new cabinet, unveiled during a press conference at the presidential
palace, includes 30 ministers from Lebanon’s rival political clans.
The new line-up is to see four women take up office, including at the head
of the interior and energy ministries.
Gibran Bassil is to remain as foreign minister, while Ali Hassan Khalil is
also staying on in charge of the finance ministry.
On May 24, after parliamentary elections, President Michel Aoun quickly
nominated Prime Minister Saad Hariri for his third term as premier and tasked
him with forming a cabinet.
But political parties in the small multi-confessional country spent eight
months arguing over the new government’s make-up.
“We are facing economic, financial, social and administrative challenges,”
Hariri said at a press conference after the announcement.
“It has been a difficult political period, especially after the elections,
and we must turn the page and start working,” he said.
A new government will be able to unlock billions of dollars in aid pledged
at a conference in April, notably to help boost the country’s ailing
infrastructure.
The French president welcomed the formation of the new government.
“President Emmanuel Macron reaffirms his commitment to the sovereignty,
stability and security of Lebanon, underlining the importance of the policy
of dissociation and the fight against terrorism,” a statement from the Elysee
Palace said.
Lebanon is governed by a complex system which aims to maintain a precarious
balance of power across religious and political communities.
– Positions shared out –
But finding that equilibrium in government cabinets often takes time.
In 2009, it took Hariri five months to form a government, while his
successor Tammam Salam took ten months after he was nominated in 2013.
These delays are often linked to tensions over neighbouring Syria.
They have been exacerbated since civil war broke out there in 2011, sending
tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing into Lebanon.
This time, the latest sticking point was finding a spot in government to
represent independent Sunni lawmakers opposed to the premier but allied to
Hezbollah.
On Thursday, the president’s Free Patriotic Movement took 10 positions,
including foreign minister, giving an 11th spot to the independent Sunni
lawmakers.
Its ally Shiite movement Hezbollah took three portfolios, including the
health ministry.
Fellow Shiite party Amal also took three, among them finance.
Hariri’s Future Movement party took five posts.
Listed as a terror organisation by the United States, Hezbollah is the only
party not to have disarmed after the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990.
It is a staunch ally of the regime in Syria, where it has helped President
Bashar al-Assad’s forces regain large parts of the country from rebels and
jihadists.
The new women ministers include Raya al-Hasan as interior minister from the
premier’s Future Movement.
Nada Boustani, from the Free Patriotic Movement, is to become energy and
water minister.
– ‘Challenges’ –
The new government now has 30 days to draw up a ministerial declaration to
outline its priorities before it starts working.
This too could prove to be difficult, in view of internal divisions.
Contentious issues include Lebanon’s relations with Syria’s Assad, the
future of around one million Syrian refugees in a country of 4.5 million, and
Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal.
Analysts says the new cabinet’s main challenge will be the economy.
Lebanon’s service-oriented economy had looked on the brink of collapse for
some time, but a Paris conference dubbed CEDRE in April made aid pledges
worth $11 billion.
“The financial situation in Lebanon has become unbearable,” Hariri said
earlier in the day.
“The challenges facing us are huge, and the available means are limited,”
he said.
Growth stood at more than nine percent before the war broke out in Syria,
but has since plummeted to around one percent in recent years.
It is one of the world’s most indebted countries, with public debt
estimated at 141 percent of gross domestic product in 2018, according to
Moody’s Investors Service.
Unemployment doubled between 2011 and 2014 to reach 20 percent, and the
state cannot provide water and electricity to all its citizens — even in
central Beirut.