President Michel Aoun is counting on the new government to speed up the birth of a solution for the return of the Syrian displaced to their homeland, after internal disagreements in the former government had hindered a solution to the file.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, a parliamentary source in the Free Patriotic Movement said that Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government might be able to finally implement a plan for the safe return of the displaced.
“Perhaps some people’s description of the current government as ‘one-sided’ could help resolve the displaced issue, which put great burdens on the Lebanese economy,” he noted.
Former Minister for the Displaced, Saleh al-Gharib - who is close to the head of the Democratic Gathering party Talal Arslan - was working on a plan that faced opposition from some other members of the former government.
The ministry was dissolved, and its work was put under the framework of the Ministry of Social Affairs, which is now headed by Minister Ramzi Msharafieh, who is also close to Arslan.
According to available information, the team, which was working on the plan under Gharib, has maintained the same role, but this time within the Social Affairs ministry.
“Implementing the plan has become easier for the new government, given its line-up, which gives it the opportunity to work away from political bickering,” the parliamentary sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Aoun links the economic and financial crises that beset the country to the influx of displaced. He said last week that the cost of the Syrian displacement crisis in Lebanon amounted to $25 billion, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
