Lebanese Government Saves Itself from Collapse over Appointments
Arab World
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat
The Lebanese government avoided on Thursday disputes among its members after Prime Minister Hassan Diab withdrew an item on appointments in the financial and banking sector from the agenda of a session held at the Baabda palace. His decision came after Marada Movement leader Suleiman Frangieh warned that the ministers representing his movement would suspend their cabinet membership if candidates proposed by his party are not included in the appointments at the Central Bank. A high-ranking Marada official accused President Michel Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement of Gebran Bassil on monopolizing the shares of the Maronite sect in public jobs. “We reject their logic, and that’s why we threatened to resign from the government, and not only withdraw from the session,” the official told Asharq Al-Awsat. He said that the Marada also objected the Sunni appointments, which did not take into consideration the size of representation of al-Mustaqbal Movement. Al-Mustaqbal, former Prime Ministers and the Lebanese Forces had earlier rejected the appointments, accusing the government of only respecting political quotas. Sources said that former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who heads al-Mustaqbal, has discussed the issue with Speaker Nabih Berri, Franjieh and Hezbollah officials. The sources said that the Shiite duo – Berri’s Amal movement and Hezbollah - refuse to engage in a battle that could ignite “Shiite-Sunni” tension at this delicate time. Diab sees that “the appointments should be [based] upon competence and not political quotas," Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad told reporters following Thursday’s cabinet session. The Central Bank positions include four deputy governors, whose terms expired in April last year. The appointments also include posts in the Banking Control Commission and the Financial Markets Commission. Ministerial sources said that Diab withdrew the item at the start of Thursday’s cabinet session following a closed meeting with President Michel Aoun. Labor Minister Lamia Yammine, who did not attend the session, wrote on her Twitter account that the government should adopt a transparent mechanism in all administrative appointments, “favoring competence over quotas that have proven to be the main reason behind the country's current situation." “Otherwise, it will end up being just like former governments,” she said.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2214266/lebanese-government-saves-itself-collapse-over-appointments
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