After weeks of work towards the formation of a new Lebanese government, it seems that Prime Minister Hassan Diab has everything ready to finally announce the 76th government of the country.
Lebanese media have recently leaked the draft line-up of Hassan Diab’s upcoming cabinet, and it seems to be (almost) final.
On Monday, Annahar published the list of ministries and the respective names of their holders according to the distribution agreed upon as is shown in the alleged near-final line-up.
The following is that list as published by the newspaper:
. Finance: Ghazi Wazni
. Health: Dr. Ali Haidar
. Industry: Abdul Halim Fadlallah
. Agriculture & Tourism: Salem Darwish
. Interior: Brig. Gen. Talal al-Ladqi
. Telecom: Talal Hawat or Othman Sultan
. Education & Sport: Tarek Majzoub
. Displaced & Social Affairs: Dr. Ramzi Msharrafiyeh
. Foreign Affairs: No agreement yet on Maronite candidate
. Defense: Maj. Gen. Michel Menassa or Zeina Adra
. Justice: Judge Henri Khoury
. Energy: No agreement yet on Maronite candidate
. Environment: Manal Mousallem
. Economy: Amal Haddad or Petra Khoury
. Labor: Amal Haddad or Petra Khoury
. Information & Culture: Varte Ohanian
. Administrative Development: Jack Sarraf
. Deputy PM: Amal Haddad or Jack Sarraf
This line-up is of course still subject to alterations before it is officially announced and some positions have not been fixed on a name yet.
As per this draft, the 76th government of Lebanon will be a miniature one (constituted of 18 ministers instead of 30) and appears to be techno-political in its composition.
Since being leaked, the draft has been criticized for its apparent gender bias, considering the very few women participating in contrast to men, when there are numerous qualified Lebanese women readily available to fill the positions.
Additionally, some Roman Catholic clerics in Lebanon have expressed disapproval of the line-up because of its “disregard” for their sect, manifested by the sect only being handed only the Ministry of Environment.
These reactions might affect the formation and might also cause some changes to be made in accordance with the mentioned points.
In any case, the final line-up of the next Lebanese government is expected to be officially announced very soon, if all goes according to plan.
