In harsh remarks, Lebanon’s Future Movement indirectly accused President Michel Aoun of deliberately obstructing the government formation all for his son-in-law MP Gebran Bassil.
The bloc’s stern comment came after Future Movement leader, PM-designate Saad Hariri, officially presented his draft cabinet lineup last week, only for it to be met with a counter-proposal by President Aoun.
For many, it was no surprise that President Aoun would reject Hariri’s proposal due to differences over the division of ministers, even though the point is to have a cabinet of nonpartisan specialists.
“It is their right to obstruct the formation of governments for the sake of [Aoun’s] son-in-law, or under the pretext of imposing criteria that allow heads of sects to name ministers, choose ministerial portfolios, and maintain veto power, even if the criteria compelled them to undercut the other sects’ shares…,” the bloc remarked.
Hariri has been quite open about not including Bassil nor anyone who has been sanctioned in his cabinet.
Future Movement also condemned the indictment of outgoing PM Hassan Diab over the Beirut Blast investigation. They viewed it as an attack on the premiership, saying it “undermined” the premiership’s position.
Ongoing political and sectarian tensions have been paralyzing the country’s progress, even before Diab resigned in the wake of the Beirut blast after months of not being able to rescue Lebanon from its financial instability.
Lebanon is like the sinking Titanic only without the music, as French FM Jean-Yves Le Drian eloquently put it.