We have been promised that the formation of the new government was due Friday, January 17th.
The almost complete list was out, the meeting between PM Hassan Diab and Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri was done, and the date was set. Until once again, things got complicated.
After a long meeting between the MP and the Speaker of the Parliament, Diab was supposed to contact the Lebanese President Michel Aoun with the good news, but that phone call never happened.
To sum it up, and relating to what ministerial sources revealed to Lebanese television channels, the formation of the new government won’t be happening on Friday, or soon for that matter.
Many political conflicts resulted in this delay; again. Berri wanted a government of 20 members, which allows him to fit a minister close to the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt. On the other hand, Hassan Diab insisted on 18.
Plus, the head of the Democratic Party, MP Talal Arslan, insists that his representative be granted the Ministry of Industry, which Jumblatt also wanted.
As for Franjieh, and as he previously expressed in a tweet, he demanded a share of two ministers.
So, this governmental obstruction came from more than one side, and all for religious, sectarian, and political parties’ purposes.
That unacceptable delay due to political parties’ conflicts validates further the demands of the Lebanese people to end political sectarianism and all political parties.
MP Assaad Hardan demands the rights of the Syrian National Social Party, and Sleiman Franjiyeh wants a proper representation for The Marada Movement and the National Bloc.
From his side, MP Talal Arslan wants to preserve the position of the Druze sect, and the Roman Catholic community wants equality with both Armenians and the Druze. It is a spiral, it turns and it turns, and each time it is back to square one.
Informed sources indicate that this contract will be dismantled by Hezbollah in order to facilitate the birth of the government, but it may take additional days, and for Saad Hariri to participate.
For a moment, they had us believe that all issues in the formation of a government were over, that the agreement was achieved, and that all the names supported by the Free Patriotic Movement of MP Bassil were agreed upon, and there was not one problem left.
However, even before that government formation was crushed from the inside, it was rejected by the Lebanese people of the revolution.
The list of members was almost immediately unaccepted and criticized for totally disregarding the people’s demands in a revolution that is now three months old.
They are once again furiously protesting on the streets. This list was living proof of the politicians’ selfishness, trickery, and dismissal of the people’s voices.
The alleged ‘independent’ government sure didn’t include the same politicians directly, but they were included undirectly by affiliation or allegiance.
For example, instead of naming Gebran Bassil, they named his adviser. They also honored the Amal movement by naming Nabih Berri’s adviser, Ghazi Wazani.
A few hours before the completion of the much-awaited government, the quota policy that Lebanese politicians hold so dearly interfered again to postpone the formation until next week.
As promised in the agenda of Anger Week, a general strike has been declared to start on Friday, several marching protests and sit-ins are being planned, including blocking main roads, “overthrowing” the Serail in Tripoli, and so on.
