Bassil cuts the road to Hariri and a French warn of...

Al-Akhbar newspaper wrote: “The doors are closed.” Thus, the outcome of the limited communications that took place regarding the government crisis in recent days can be summarized. And it became clear that this strife, which President of the Republic General Michel Aoun tried to break by calling for parliamentary consultations on the 15th of this month, aims to throw a stone into the stagnant waters, not only internally, but also an attempt by him to feel the pulse of the Elysee, which was not moved Static since the last conference of French President Emmanuel Macron on Lebanon. Certainly, the mandatory consultations to appoint a new prime minister were not preceded by an agreement on any name, despite repeated talk about the necessity of assigning and composition, but Aoun decided to move to say that he is working on the success of the French initiative, and he communicated with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, noting that the latter preferred understanding On the “complete basket” before scheduling the appointment. In short, sources in Baabda respond that “President Aoun applies the constitution, aren’t they the ones who accuse him of violating the constitution? What do they want more than that?” What about the agreement on the name of the future president? “The president has set consultations a week from now, in order to give the political forces an opportunity to consult and reach an agreement, but let everyone know that we can not wait for more than that, and that the country’s situation is like a mine that can explode at any time.”

With the step taken by President Aoun, the country is heading towards a process of mixing political cards, which will begin to emerge in succession with the main political forces announcing their positions on what is happening. This started with former Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who yesterday in an interview with LBCI channel renewed his candidacy for President Saad Hariri at the head of a techno-political government (6 political ministers and 14 technocrats), which is subject to Hariri’s acceptance, who will appear today on the program. It is now “on MTV” channel, and it is likely that he will state his position on this nomination, while informed sources said that “Hariri will respond to the accusations against him regarding disrupting the government, but he will not use a high ceiling against Hezbollah.”

In any case, there is one constant, which is that the French initiative is still in place, and that there is no tendency to form a government of one color. This constant leads to the fact that the only options available to the forces involved in forming the government are either to return to negotiations with Hariri himself to assign him to form a government or to agree with him on a specific name. But the first option, according to informed sources, had great obstacles. Hariri has not yet decided his position, and he may come out soon to say that he rejects this mission. Although “Hariri is still the preferred name for Speaker Nabih Berri, despite his reservations about many matters, and it is an option that Hezbollah will not oppose,” yet the big problem lies in President Aoun’s position on him, as well as former minister Gebran Bassil. The latter categorically rejects Hariri’s return to the Serail. In order to block the road, information circulated stating that “Bassil is working to float Ambassador Mustafa Adib again.” While the sources of the Free Patriotic Movement deny this, Al-Akhbar learned that “Adeeb has received many calls from Beirut asking him to return,” but he “refuses to do so before reaching a final agreement, as he wants guarantees that allow him to compose as soon as he comes.”
The negativity accompanying the government scene was overtaken by the announcement by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian that the second international conference for aid to Lebanon after the huge explosion in the Beirut port will take place in November, not in October.
Le Drian explained that this conference would allow a “transition to the second stage”, which is the stage of “rebuilding” the port and the affected neighborhoods in Beirut, after a first stage called “emergency”. It was remarkable that he warned once again of “the disintegration of Lebanon, and rather of its demise if a government is not quickly formed and structural reforms are not carried out.”