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BEIRUT: The European Union, backed by France, is preparing to set up a mechanism for sanctions as part of stepped-up pressure on Lebanese politicians to form a new government badly needed to avert the countrys all-out economic collapse, the French Foreign Ministry said.
The planned EU move comes after a flurry of intensified Arab and foreign political activity in Lebanon failed to make any headway in the Cabinet deadlock, which has entered its eighth month with no solution in sight.
It also comes as Lebanons rival leaders did not heed repeated Arab and foreign appeals, including those made by the United States, Russia and France, to agree on the speedy formation of a government of nonpartisan specialists to implement 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, which is wrestling with multiple crises, including an unprecedented financial downturn.
The failed Arab mediation attempts to resolve the Cabinet formation crisis have raised fears that France and its European partners might impose sanctions on Lebanese politicians blocking the formation of a new government to deliver reforms, rebuild Beirut after last years deadly port explosion and shore up the countrys flagging economy.
The EU foreign ministers met in Brussels Monday, discussing among other things, the Lebanese Cabinet crisis and possible punitive measures against those obstructing the government formation.
As a follow-up to the meeting of the [EU] foreign affairs council held on March 22, [French Foreign Minister] Jean-Yves Le Drian reminded his European counterparts of the urgent need to help Lebanon out of the political and economic deadlock by accelerating the pace of European efforts aimed at exerting pressure on Lebanese officials [responsible] for the current obstruction, said a statement released by the French Foreign Ministry Monday.
It said the EUs High Representative for foreign and security policy Josep Borrell distributed to member states an options paper prepared by the EUs external work agency at a French and German request.
The options presented to the EU foreign ministers outline the conditions for the formation of a government that would be engaged with the International Monetary Fund to implement the required reforms at the quickest time, the statement said.
Lebanon began talks with the IMF on a $10 billion bailout package in May 2020, but the negotiations have been stalled by a dispute between different interest groups representing Lebanese banks and the government over the size of losses in the Central Bank.
If a government is not formed, sanctions would be put in place in two stages. First, drawing up a sanctions regime for Lebanon and second, listing the targeted names who are obstructing the [Cabinet] formation on the sanctions list, the statement added.
An-Nahar newspaper quoted diplomatic sources in Paris as saying they hoped that setting up the sanctions regime would prove effective and prompt Lebanese politicians to back off from blocking the government formation. The sources stressed that any European decision to impose sanctions on Lebanese politicians needed unanimity among the EU states.
French and Western diplomats have said that after months of stalemate, France is now ready to discuss the prospect of sanctions, at EU or national level, on senior Lebanese officials, although it is not likely to be immediate. France and the EU are putting together proposals that could see asset frozen and travel bans imposed on Lebanese politicians to push them finally to agree on a government to rescue the country from economic collapse.
As many senior Lebanese politicians have homes, bank accounts and investments in the EU, and send their children to universities there, a withdrawal of that access could be a lever to focus minds.
"Concrete proposals are being developed against the very people who have abandoned the general interest in favor of their personal interests," Le Drian told lawmakers earlier this month. "If certain political actors don't assume their responsibilities, we won't hesitate to assume ours."
Meanwhile, in the absence of contacts between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to resolve the Cabinet crisis, the country faces the risk of an open-ended political stalemate.
There is nothing new regarding the Cabinet crisis. There are no mediators acting to bridge the gap [between Aoun and Hariri]. Lebanon appears to be heading toward an open-ended crisis, an official source familiar with the matter told The Daily Star Tuesday.
But Hezbollah MP Hasan Ezzedine said the Iranian-backed party, a key ally of Aoun, was making efforts to overcome the remaining hurdles hindering the government formation.
Hezbollah is continuing its dialogue with the parties concerned with the government formation and is exerting efforts to eliminate the remaining obstacles to facilitate the birth of a new government capable of confronting the severe social, economic and financial problems that are leaving a heavy burden on all citizens in Lebanon, Ezzedine said during political meetings in the southern port city of Tyre.
He said the government formation called on all officials to avoid political spitefulness and rise above narrow interests for the sake of Lebanons salvation.
Hezbollah officials were reported to have held meetings with MP Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, to soften his tough conditions on the Cabinet formation. Hariri and Future Movement officials have accused Bassil, Aouns son-in-law, of blocking the government formation with his conditions, including a demand for a blocking one-third [veto power].
The Amal Movement reiterated that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berris initiative provided the groundwork for forming an effective government to carry out reforms.
The formation of a government has become more important and urgent than before after crises have increased along with their socio-economic complications and their repercussions on internal stability, said a statement issued after the weekly meeting of Amals politburo.
The initiative launched by Speaker Nabih Berri, based on constitutional and [National] Pact rules, ensures the appropriate basis for setting up an effective government to be tasked with implementing reforms and repairing the economic and financial situation, it added.
Neither Aoun nor Hariri has yet commented on Berris initiative to break the Cabinet impasse. Berris proposal calls for the formation of a 24-member Cabinet of nonpartisan specialists with no veto power granted to any side. The proposal would divide the suggested Cabinet of 24 ministers into three groups: Eight ministers to Aoun, eight ministers to Hariri and allies, and eight ministers to the Amal Movement, Hezbollah and their allies. This division would ensure no side gains veto power.
A new war of words that erupted between the FPM and the Future Movement over the government formation has further complicated the already-stalled formation process.
The FPM-Future exchange of rhetoric underlined mounting tensions between Aoun and Hariri, whose deepening rift over the size and makeup of a new Cabinet for more than eight months has left the country without a fully empowered government to tackle multiple crises. Aoun and Hariri have refused to budge on their conflicting positions on the Cabinet formation. They remain at odds over the distribution of key ministerial seats, namely the Justice and Interior ministries, and the naming of Christian ministers.
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