BEIRUT: The Marada Movement has apparently rebuffed President Michel Aoun’s conciliatory gesture to party chief MP Sleiman Frangieh to meet to break the deadlock over the government formation, saying Sunday that a formal invitation was needed before the two rival leaders can get together.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea met with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri Sunday night at the latter’s Downtown Beirut residence to discuss current political developments, particularly the ongoing contacts over the formation of a government, a statement issued by Hariri’s media office said.
The Marada Movement’s tough stance casts doubts about Aoun’s initiative being able to facilitate the Cabinet formation, as Hariri is striving to satisfy conflicting demands by rival blocs vying for key ministerial portfolios, namely Telecommunications, Public Works and Energy.
“President Michel Aoun must send an invitation to Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh to visit Baabda Palace to find suitable solutions to the [Cabinet] crisis,” Marada media chief Sleiman Frangieh, the leader’s cousin, told a local radio station.
“There are negative accumulations [of problems] as a result of the competition between Frangieh and President Aoun over the presidency. There are also negative accumulations [of problems] as a result of the bilateral Christian agreement between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces” he said.
Declaring Aoun’s election an achievement for the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance, the media officer rejected accusations that the Marada Movement was to blame for the obstruction of the Cabinet formation, more than a month after Hariri was designated to set up a government. “We should not be asked about the obstruction. We are defending ourselves. We are demanding a weighty ministry and we reject the logic of veto,” Sleiman Frangieh added.
MTV quoted FPM sources as saying that the party was pondering the idea of sending FPM leader and caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil to the northern town of Bneshaai to meet with Frangieh as a means of melting the ice between Aoun and the Marada leader.
The Marada media chief’s remarks came two days after Aoun issued a statement urging anyone with concerns relating to the Cabinet formation to meet with him to resolve any outstanding issues. The presidential statement was viewed as an implicit invitation to Frangieh to visit Baabda Palace for talks on the Cabinet formation deadlock.
Sources close to the Cabinet formation process said that Aoun has launched an initiative aimed at ending the government standoff and is still waiting for the parties’ responses. “President Aoun is waiting for answers from concerned politicians to his initiative to break the deadlock over the government formation,” a source close to the Cabinet formation process told The Daily Star Sunday night. “The president’s initiative has provided an opportunity for the rival parties to resolve the crisis over the Cabinet formation. The president is seeking to find a solution to the Cabinet formation problem.”
Asked if Aoun’s initiative can now be considered stillborn given the Marada Movement’s negative response, the source said: “The president’s initiative came as a result of high-level contacts and it should be given sufficient time before deciding its fate.”
Hezbollah, which is allied to both Aoun and Frangieh, is apparently trying to iron out differences over the Cabinet formation. Aoun’s initiative came a day after Bassil met with Hezbollah’s senior security official Wafiq Safa to discuss ways to bring Frangieh on board.
The Marada Movement’s insistence on being represented in the new government with one of the three key ministerial posts – Telecommunications, Energy or Public Works – is posing a major obstacle, holding up the formation of a new government. It has already rejected offers of the Education or Culture ministries, insisting on acquiring a public service portfolio.
Another hurdle delaying the Cabinet formation is the dispute between Speaker Nabih Berri and the LF over who should get the Public Works Ministry. Berri has long insisted on retaining control of both the Finance and Public Works ministries, while the LF, which is allied with the FPM and Hariri’s Future Movement, is also demanding the Public Works Ministry, in addition to other portfolios.
Berri has thrown his weight behind Frangieh, pledging that his Amal Movement will not join a new government if the Marada Movement is not represented in it with a key ministerial post. Hezbollah has also warned that no government would be formed without the Marada Movement being allocated a key ministerial post.
Berri stressed Sunday that the quick formation of a new government was crucial for the passing of a new electoral law to replace the controversial 1960 majoritarian law ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.
“We are in race against time with regard to an electoral law. Therefore, this matter [electoral law] must not be faced with inactivity, but by concentrating on drafting an electoral law. There is no excuse for anyone to delay this matter,” Berri was quoted as saying by visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence.
In what appeared to be a response to caretaker Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, who said last week that parliamentary elections must either be based on the 1960 law or be postponed because a new voting system would require more time to prepare, Berri said: “There is no need to use any deadline as a pretext [to avoid a new electoral law]. Parliament, in discussing a draft electoral law, can find an appropriate solution to these deadlines. Hence comes the role of the government and the Parliament speaker. But what’s more important is the formation of the government.”
He vowed not to give up his efforts toward producing a new voting system, while reiterating his rejection of a new extension of Parliament’s mandate, which has been extended twice, as well as the 1960 electoral law.
Despite recent breakthroughs in the presidential election and the Cabinet designation, political powers remain at odds over drafting an electoral law to govern parliamentary elections scheduled for May 2017.
Berri, responding to claims that the Shiite community is being targeted in the new presidential era, was quoted as saying: “I have said I will not be an oppressor and I will not be oppressed. No one can isolate us in case he is capable of isolating us. Also, no one can isolate anyone. I am working and I’ll work and fight for the sake of the country.”
