When it comes to the new Lebanese cabinet formation, the only element that was missing, apart from the US-Iran “Nuclear Agreement”, was the ‘blessing’ of Saad Hariri and his formation by Saudi Arabia. This blessing was offered through two steps: The first came through a call by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the French President Emmanuel Macron pushing towards the formation of a new government under the conditions that were agreed upon by the heads of blocs at the Pine Palace in Beirut on August 6th, 2020.
The second step was the statement by the Saudi foreign minister who said that his country is “ready to support anyone in Lebanon is willing and able to adopt a reform agenda.”
As the Free Patriotic Movement and other opponents of the designated Prime Minster Saad Hariri tried to imply that the Saudi rhetoric was offensive, they attempted to promote alternative candidates to that position. However, sources close to Hariri told Janoubia that the support of the Saudi foreign minister had a positive impact on Hariri and his reformist government that he’s been working on for 6 months.
The sources reveal that Hariri’s return from the UAE is in a matter of hours, while sources close to the formation efforts tell Janoubia that Hariri will be in Baabda within two days. Evidence for the maturity of the agreement will likely be confirmed sometime between Monday and Tuesday.
If expectations are correct, a government of 24 ministers based on Berri’s initiative will be formed within a few days!
Sources also point out that agreement is in its final stages, and if expectations are correct, it will be a matter of days before the cabinet is formed based on Speaker Nabih Berri’s initiative. This initiative calls for the formation of a cabinet of 24 ministers who will each reside over an independent department, except for the Prime Minister and his deputy, provided all ministers hold the required specialty. Additionally, President Michel Aoun succeeded in gaining the right to name all the Christian ministers, as is the case with those of other sects according to Berri’s initiative.
