Jeddah: : “Lebanon is like an atom. If it is split, then it will explode, as will the region around it,” Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday. His statement reflected a deep worry that the current political stalemate could lead to Lebanon’s fragmentation.
It was perhaps with this in mind, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said this morning that it was time for the cabinet to finally meet and make decisions that have been pending since last year when Lebanon failed to agree on a president following the end of Michel Sulaiman’s term.
According to an anonymous government source, a deal to end the current veto mechanism in the cabinet has been reached last Tuesday. It remains unclear whether Salam’s announcement reflected an actual deal that was made or whether the prime minister was trying to force ministers to fall in line. Since the return of Sa’ad Hariri to Lebanon last month, there has been intense dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah, giving credence to the possibility that a deal could have been worked out between the two rival parties.
“The resumption of the cabinet’s work in the next stage depends on the readiness of political parties represented in the government to learn from the lessons of the previous paralysed situation,” Salam told the pro-Hezbollah daily, Al Safir.
A cabinet session was nonetheless scheduled for Thursday, after a two-week standstill, accompanied by a warning that the prime minister would not call for other sessions if the ministers did not heed his call to amend the controversial working mechanism adopting by rival politicians in the absence of a head of state.
