Lebanon’s new Cabinet has held its first meeting and the country’s
leaders vowed to deal with the political and economic challenges the
country faces.
The meeting was held at the presidential palace near Beirut on Saturday
and attended by the 30 Cabinet ministers as well as the president and
prime minister.
The new Cabinet, which was announced on Thursday night, formed a
10-member committee whose job will be to draft a government policy
statement that will be read in Parliament ahead of a vote of confidence.
Lebanon’s new government will start preparing its policy statement on
Monday that may provide an early clue as to whether the coalition
government can agree on the “bold reforms” that Prime Minister Saad
Al-Hariri has said are needed.
It may also address issues such as Lebanon’s relationship with Syria and
the Iran-backed Hezbollah group’s possession of a large arsenal on
which members of the coalition disagree.
At Saturday’s Cabinet meeting, the first since the government was formed
on Thursday, Hariri said: “There are difficult decisions in all areas
that we must take.”
Nothing new
Though Lebanon has a new government, formed after nine months of
political wrangling, many Lebanese feel that little will change.
“It’s the same political class that has nothing to do with reform,” said
George Azar, an activist with the Lebanese Corruption Observatory.
“We’re ready to take to the streets and protest all the waste,
corruption and failed policies.”
Nasser Yassin, director of research at the Issam Fares Institute for
Public Policy and International Affairs, said: “The new government is a
positive step in principle. It must continue to work on the agreements
Lebanon had signed, and issue implementation decrees of the laws issued
on paper.”
He added: “There are respectable new ministers, but in my opinion the
content of the current government is an embellishment of the previous
one.”
“It can’t face the major issues related to economic reforms, Syrian
refugees in Lebanon and problems associated with the regional situation.
This isn’t a rescue government but a beautification one.”
Mona Kattan said: “As a Lebanese activist in the field of giving women
the right to grant citizenship to their foreign children, I’m glad to
see four women holding ministerial portfolios.”
Housewife Hind said nothing has changed but ministers’ faces. “They make
promises, but this is Hezbollah’s government and it will be however
Hezbollah likes,” she said. Prime Minister Saad Hariri “was stuck with a
fait accompli,” she added.
“It’s true that some ministers are competent, but they’re linked to the
political leaders who brought them, so how can they make reforms that
may not serve their leaders?”
Lawyer Saleh Suleiman said he is glad “a woman has been appointed
interior minister because it gives a positive impression in the Arab and
Western worlds.”
He added: “Hezbollah’s assumption of the health portfolio doesn’t mean
it will work wonders with it. I believe it will continue the work of
those who preceded it.”
Appointing ministers from the Bekaa Valley does not mean the region will
be given more attention because they, including the ministers of health
and agriculture, seldom visit the Bekaa, Suleiman said.
Playwright Yahya Jaber said: “As a Lebanese citizen who has hit rock
bottom, I have no choice but to be optimistic that this government will
do something.”
He added: “I’m happy that four women were appointed in the Cabinet, but
does this mean women aren’t corrupt or unlikely to become so?”
He wondered why there was a focus on appointing ministers from the north
of the country. “Is it because the next phase is focused on the
reconstruction of Syria through the capital of northern Lebanon,
Tripoli?” he asked. “I’m not a politician, but I connect the dots and
this is how I see things.”
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