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BEIRUT: Undeterred by MP Gebran Bassils rejection of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berris initiative aimed at resolving the monthslong Cabinet crisis, the Amal Movement Monday called for the formation of a new government based on the initiative to implement reforms and save the crises-hit country from all-out economic collapse.
Amals call came a day after Bassil, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, toughened his stance on the Cabinet formation process, saying that the government impasse has exposed more dangerous and deeper crises relating to the countrys sectarian-based ruling system and the Constitution.
Bassil also rejected outright Berris initiative, dealing a heavy blow to the proposal, viewed by many politicians as a last chance, to end the political stalemate that for more than 10 months has left Lebanon without a fully empowered government to tackle multiple crises, including an unprecedented financial downturn that is threatening the Lebanese with poverty and hunger.
The solution [to the Cabinet crisis] is by adherence to the Constitution and the National Accord Document [Taif Accord] and staying away from selfishness and personal interests in favor of the nations interest and its future, security and stability, said a statement issued after the weekly meeting of Amals politburo.
The statement stressed that the main gateway to begin addressing the crippling economic and financial crisis, the worst in decades, is by accelerating the formation of a rescue government in accordance with the requirements of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berris initiative.
Lebanese citizens are reeling under the brunt of the economic, social and health conditions that are deteriorating to the point of collapse, it added.
MP Qassem Hashem, from Berris parliamentary Development and Liberation bloc, said the speakers initiative that seeks to tackle all aspects of the Cabinet crisis is continuing, unruffled by the latest political tensions between the FPM and President Michel Aoun on the one hand, and Berri and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariris Future Movement on the other.
Speaker Berri is still committed to his promise to continue his efforts aimed at protecting Lebanon and preventing the countrys final collapse, Hashem told a local radio station.
Like Berri, Hashem said the hurdles hindering the Cabinet formation were internal par excellence, ruling out foreign factors. The Lebanese can overcome the crisis by understanding and the adoption of a language of calm and unity, he said, adding that the divergent viewpoints between Aoun and Hariri over the Cabinet formation process underlined the need for changing the current [ruling] system.
In a move apparently aimed at defusing tensions with the FPM, Berri, despite being annoyed by Bassils tough speech, has asked the Amal Movements officials and MPs not to respond to Bassil.
A Hezbollah lawmaker said the only solution to the Cabinet crisis was through an understanding between Aoun and Hariri.
Given the sectarian composition of the political system after all previous experiments, solutions always need understanding because our country is founded on the principle of partnership, Hezbollah MP Hasan Fadlallah told a political dialogue session held in the southern town of Bint Jbeil.
Therefore, there is no solution to the Cabinet formation except through an understanding between the parties concerned, at the forefront of them are the president and the premier-designate. Hence, we in Hezbollah have made efforts to eliminate obstacles. The sessions held behind the scenes were much more than those made public, he added.
Hezbollah officials have held several meetings with Bassil in a bid to soften his tough conditions on the Cabinet formation. Hariri and Future officials have accused Aoun and his son-in-law, Bassil, of blocking the government formation with their insistence on gaining veto power, something that the premier-designate has vowed not to grant to any party.
AOUN STILL HOPEFUL
In a televised speech Saturday, Bassil asked Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah for help in securing Christian rights in the government and the public administration. Hezbollah is a key ally of Aoun and the FPM.
Aoun and Hariri, who are constitutionally mainly responsible for the Cabinet formation, have not been on speaking terms since their last meeting at Baabda Palace on March 22 that failed to resolve their differences over the size and makeup of the government. The two leaders remain at odds over the distribution of key ministerial seats, namely the Justice and Interior ministries, and the naming of Christian ministers.
Amals call for a new government and Bassils escalation against Berri, Hariri and the Lebanese Forces, come as the president on the one hand, and the speaker and the premier-designate on the other, appear to be boycotting one another after locking horns over responsibility for delaying the formation of a proposed Cabinet of nonpartisan specialists with no blocking one-third plus one [veto power] to any side.
Such a government would be tasked with implementing a string of essential reforms in line with the French initiative designed to steer Lebanon out of its worst economic and financial crunch since the 1975-90 Civil War and avert a much-feared social implosion. Implementation of long-overdue reforms is deemed crucial for unlocking billions of dollars in promised foreign aid to the cash-strapped country.
Despite the gloomy Cabinet prospects, Aoun was quoted Monday by visitors as saying that he did not lose hope for a solution to the deadlock.
Despite all that is happening, the president was not desperate with initiatives reaching a solution with the presence of wise people provided that the Constitution and the powers assigned to constitutional branches of power, on top of them is the presidency, are not touched, MP Jamil al-Sayyed said after meeting Aoun at Baabda Palace.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hassan Diabs caretaker Cabinet rejected criticism from various blocs for not doing enough to tackle the worsening economic and living conditions. A statement issued by the premierships media office called on rival factions to speed up the formation of a new government.
The premiership assures that it will not fail to put forth its best effort to alleviate the impact of the crisis and conduct state affairs in the sense of a caretaker government, in the hope that political forces will assume their responsibilities in expediting the formation of a new government, so that crossing the dark tunnel does not take long, the statement said.
No sane person would accept this political impotence, the interruption of the meaningful dialogue among relevant parties, and the disruption of all ways out that would lead to a settlement with regard to forming an effective government capable of addressing the severe financial, economic, social and living crises, so as to stop the downfall caused by decadeslong accumulated wrong financial policies, and which is currently deepened by the sharp political division that has been preventing the formation of the government for more than ten months, and is causing the collapse of the national currency, it added.
The statement said the serious crisis that the country has reached, requires collective consciousness to reverse the comprehensive collapse that increases the suffering of the Lebanese and cuts off the path to any rescue plan.
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