Some Parties Don’t Want Govt. Formed: Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker
Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri says the government formation process in the country has been derailed as there are parties that do not want a new cabinet to be formed.
“What happened confirms there are parties that do not want the government to be born at all,” Berri told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published on Monday.
The country has been facing a political deadlock since its first parliamentary vote in nine years was held in May.
Berri expressed concern about regarding “what awaits the country in the coming period.”
According to official results, the resistance movement of Hezbollah, which defends the country against the Israeli aggression, and its political allies won more than 70 of the 128 seats.
Hezbollah’s allies include the Amal Movement, led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and the Christian Free Patriotic Movement, founded by President Michel Aoun.
The Western- and Saudi-backed Saad Hariri, however, lost more than a third of the seats held by his party’s lawmakers.
The cabinet seats must be allocated among rival groups according to a system that permits Sunnis, Shias and Christians to represent the portfolios.
The most powerful ministries have already been allocated but fresh disputes have reportedly arisen over portfolios of secondary significance.
Offering his analysis of the situation, Berri said, “The matter appears to be bigger than a blocking third, portfolios, and shares.”
Lebanon is in dire need of an administration because the country is heavily indebted and suffering from low economic growth.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in the capital Beirut on Sunday to protest rampant corruption, poor living conditions and deteriorating economic conditions in the country.
The protesters gathered near the government headquarters, with some of them wearing yellow vests echoing France’s “yellow vest” protests of recent weeks.
A scuffle broke out with soldiers as the protesters spilled into the streets and set trash cans ablaze on one main road around Beirut.
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