SourceLondon Arabs
The severity of the political differences over the completion of the constitutional benefits (the prime minister and the presidency) indicates that Lebanon entered a period of institutional vacuum, just days before the end of President Michel Aoun’s term, and in light of a caretaker government that seems to be largely restricted in running the affairs of the presidency, which deepens problems The Lebanese.
The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, considered on Tuesday that the caretaker government cannot assume the powers of the presidency in the event of a vacancy, because it lacks its legitimacy.
Bassil said, “Whoever thinks that the caretaker government will assume the powers of the presidency is mistaken. This is a violation of the constitution, and it is a constitutional body that has lost its legitimacy and charter.”
And he declared that the caretaker prime minister “wants to challenge a government that takes the powers of the president of the republic and takes the country to sedition, just as someone who wants a defiant president. This is a constitutional massacre that we will not allow and we will confront with all our might.”
In the event of a vacuum, presidential powers are transferred to the government headed by Najib Mikati. However, Prime Minister Mikati’s government has limited its role to conducting business since the parliamentary elections in May.
Analysts say this means it is unable to make big decisions that include international agreements. This might complicate finalizing a draft agreement with the International Monetary Fund to provide much-needed aid, assuming ruling politicians eventually implement the long-awaited reforms needed to seal the deal.
Observers believe that Bassil takes the release of the constitutional institutions as a card to obtain political gains, as he still considers himself a natural candidate to succeed Aoun in Baabda Palace, despite the lack of enthusiasm by his allies (Hezbollah – Amal Movement) to recommend him.
They affirm that the election of a new president for Lebanon is mainly linked to the formation of a new government in which the Free Patriotic Movement will have a balanced representation, despite the decline in its electoral results and its popularity within its Christian environment, which is rejected by Mikati, who remained open to modifications in the proposed government structure, which President Aoun rejected at the time. former.
The current’s relationship with the prime minister-designate has worsened since the latter presented a government formation to President Aoun two months ago, which included reducing his share in the government cabinet, in line with the decline the party witnessed during the legislative elections held on the fifteenth of last May.
According to the government formation presented, Mikati withdrew the Energy Ministry from the Free Patriotic Movement, which the latter considered prejudice once morest him.
The Ministry of Energy is not the only cause of the heated dispute between Mikati and Bassil, which in turn extended to the presidency, since President Aoun, whose term ends on the 31st of next October, is the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement, and will return to his presidency following the end of his term.
Sources pointed out that the problem is still when President Aoun demands to keep the Ministry of Energy from his share and that of the Free Patriotic Movement or to replace the Ministry of Interior with it, which Mikati rejects, who gave it to a Sunni figure in the 24 ministers he presented to Aoun, and kept the Ministry of Interior with the Sunni sect. .
They point out that disrupting the formation of the new Lebanese government and maintaining the current caretaker government serve Aoun’s agendas, given that the current enjoys ministerial weight in it that enables him to disrupt the government’s tasks if it is entrusted with the tasks of managing presidential affairs.
Bassil demands in advance to know the position of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance regarding lifting the cover and protection for the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, to dismiss him.
It also calls for the commitment of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Finance to facilitate the termination of the judicial investigation into the crime of the explosion of the currently frozen port of Beirut, due to the lawsuits filed by some of the persons prosecuted by the investigative judge once morest the latter, and which are pending in the accusatory panel at the Court of Cassation.
Bassil insists on the presence of politicians in the government, which reflects his desire to be a minister in it in order for the prime minister to participate in obtaining the powers of the presidency when a presidential vacuum arises, and thus he has a role in choosing the next president through his influence on government decisions and his influence over them if this prolonged The vacuum, as long as he cannot be elected, is due to the US sanctions imposed on him since November 2020.
It seems that Hezbollah is not in a hurry to reach a political settlement, except for some efforts led by its ally, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, to bring the positions closer.
Hezbollah has not yet announced its presidential candidate, despite the failure of the Lebanese parliament four times to elect a new president, while its moves behind the scenes do not seem serious to accelerate the formation of the new government.
Observers say that Hezbollah prefers not to resolve its presidential and governmental orientations than to expedite them without a clear international and regional approach to dealing with the Lebanese crisis.
