The upcoming week is expected to see the implementation of decisions already taken at the financial and economic meetings, held at the presidential palace last Friday, following the reconciliation that finally ended the dispute over the deadly Shouf shooting, which paralyzed the government for more than a month.
Lebanon's cabinet met on Saturday for the first time since late June. Two aides to a government minister from the Lebanese Democratic Party were killed during June's shooting in the Shouf town of Aley, and the minister's allies accused the Progressive Socialist Party of attempting to assassinate him.
The cabinet session came after a reconciliation to overcome the deadly shooting.
According to presidential sources, Lebanese top officials agreed on a number of decisions during last week’s talks, through new or existing bills or proposals, citing financial matters and other issues related to the Parliament.
The sources underlined that efforts should currently be focused on the rating of international institutions, such as Standard & Poor’s, in addition to the Budget of 2020 and the commitment to present it within the constitutional deadlines, as agreed during a meeting that gathered President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, as well as other officials.
The presidential sources also told Asharq Al-Awsat that discussions during last Friday’s meeting touched on the implementation of the CEDRE Conference recommendations and the need to determine the mechanism to initiate the McKinsey plan.
On the other hand, the Council of Ministers is expected to complete administrative appointments to fill 73 vacant positions, and to tackle other projects on the fight against corruption.
