Saad Hariri to Aoun: Your formation of the government is against the constitution
Differences between the Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, regarding the formation of the government “still exist,” as Hariri revealed that Aoun had sent him a proposal for a government formation that would make the blocking third of the share of his political party (the Free Patriotic Movement), but he informed the President of his refusal Full.
This came in a speech Hariri delivered during a press conference following Aoun’s meeting, where he stressed that the Lebanese President insists on the blocking third in any new government.
And Hariri has been tasked with forming a government since last October 22, following the apology of his predecessor, Mustafa Adib. His mission to form a new government has faltered in a country where local political forces and the interests of regional and Western countries are struggling.
Through his official account on Twitter, Hariri revealed in a series of tweets what happened during his meeting with the Lebanese President, and said: In my last meeting with President Aoun, we agreed to meet today, but unfortunately he sent me yesterday a lineup that includes a disrupted third of his team and asked me to fill it.
The “obstructing third” means that a political faction obtains a third of the ministerial portfolios; This allows him to control its decisions and disrupt its meetings.
Hariri added: The paper includes an obstructed third for his political team, with 18 ministers, 20 or 22 ministers. His Excellency asked me to suggest names for the portfolios according to the sectarian and party distribution that he prepared.
Addressing the Lebanese, he continued: With all transparency, I will tell you what I told him today. First: This is unacceptable because the designated president “is not one of his duties to fill out papers for anyone, nor is it the duty of the president of the republic to form a government, and secondly: because our constitution clearly states that the designated president forms the government and puts down names. And he is discussing his formation with His Excellency the President. “
Regarding his response to Aoun’s proposed formation, Hariri added: On this basis, I reached his Excellency respectfully, that I consider his message as if it was, and I returned it to him, and I also informed him that I will keep a copy of it for history!
Hariri added, “I told His Excellency the President that my formation is in his hands for 100 days, and is now ready, as I previously said publicly for any proposals and amendments to names and portfolios, and even his insistence on the Interior Ministry made it easier for him to solve. Unfortunately, his answer is clear: the blocking third.”
Hariri added, “My goal is one, to put an end to the collapse and the suffering of the Lebanese. I asked His Excellency the President to hear the pain of the Lebanese and give the country its only and last chance for a government of specialists to undertake reforms and stop the collapse, without disruption or narrow partisan considerations.”
Hariri concluded by saying, “Waiting, and because His Excellency the President said in his last speech that I only presented him with broad lines, I will distribute to you the full assortment of names and bags that I presented to him here in Baabda on December 9, 2020, meaning from more than 100 days, and I leave the judgment on them to the public opinion.” . “
Following Hariri’s statements, the Presidency of the Lebanese Republic announced that it was “surprised by the words and manner of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, in form and content.”
She said, “The President of the Republic, and based on his powers and his eagerness to facilitate and accelerate the formation process, especially in light of the harsh conditions that the country and its people live in, sent to the Prime Minister-designate a paper that only states the methodology for forming the government and includes four pillars, following which leads to the formation of a government.” By agreement between the President of the Republic and the President-designate. “
The Lebanese presidency said that “the crisis is governmental, and it should not be transformed into a government and system crisis, unless there is a prior intention not to form a government for unknown reasons, and we will not speculate about it.”
Hariri met with Aoun at the Presidential Palace, on Monday, for the 18th time, to discuss the issue of forming the government that is expected to succeed the current caretaker government, which resigned on August 10, 6 days after a catastrophic explosion in the port of the capital, Beirut. And that is according to Anadolu Agency.
For more than a year, Lebanon has been suffering the worst economic crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990, exacerbated by the repercussions of the “Corona” pandemic and the port explosion.
Aoun’s presidency ends in 2022, as he was elected on October 31, 2016 for a presidential term of 6 years, as part of a political deal that also brought Hariri to head the government at the time.
