Lebanon speaker vows to expedite formation of gov’t

By Wasim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) – A “new mechanism” has been created to expedite Lebanon’s foundering government formation process, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday.

“We must form a government so as to meet the many challenges -- economic and social -- facing the country,” Berri said in a statement.

“Lebanon cannot continue in its current situation [i.e., without a government],” he added. “Everyone must shoulder their responsibilities and work towards drawing up a national unity government.”

Berri did not provide any additional details as to the “new mechanism” he said had been established.

But on Tuesday, he met with Jebran Bassil, leader of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement, with whom he reportedly discussed means of moving the government formation process forward.

Following parliamentary polls in May, President Michel Aoun tasked Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri with drawing up a new cabinet lineup.

The process, however, has faced repeated delays amid mutual recriminations between the country’s main political forces and demands by certain parties for more representation.

While Hezbollah wants to see six Sunni opposition MPs in the new government, Hariri argues that the six lawmakers had run in the polls under the umbrella of political blocs that have already filled their respective cabinet quotas.

According to Lebanon’s constitution, the prime minister-designate does not have a deadline for unveiling a new cabinet lineup.

Under the 1989 Taif Accord, which ended Lebanon’s devastating civil war (1975-1990), cabinet portfolios are shared between the country’s main ethno-religious groupings, with six portfolios reserved for Sunnis, six for Shias, and three for Druze.