In light of the government’s failure to convene for over a month because of internal disagreement over a bloody clash in Aley, several urgent cases, which had to be studied by the Cabinet immediately after the adoption of the 2019 budget, are now facing the unknown.
All parties recognize the seriousness of the current stage and the need to find an appropriate solution amid the failure of all efforts in this direction.
This situation has prompted Prime Minister Saad Hariri to wait before the holding of a ministerial session, to avoid further bickering over the June 30 incident, which resulted in the deaths of two of a minister’s bodyguards.
Sources close to President Michel Aoun said the priority should be given to the economic file and the implementation of the CEDRE conference recommendations.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the sources underlined the importance of completing several appointments, especially in the Ministry of Justice and the Constitutional Council.
According to the available information, French presidential envoy Pierre Dukan will visit Beirut, early September, to check the progress made in the preparations for the implementation of the CEDRE decisions.
There is no doubt that the continued disruption of the government's work will not give positive signals to the French diplomat.
As for the reform commitments made at CEDRE, which the government should undertake, the Lebanese Center for Studies refers to 73 measures distributed in five areas: 32 sectoral measures covering electricity, solid waste, telecommunications, transport and water; 23 tax measures related to improving tax collection, reducing gaps, improving budget transparency and managing public debt and electronic services of the Ministry of Finance; 11 governance measures covering public sector procurement and government’s digital transformation; and 4 developments in the private sector that deal with the modernization of the legal status of companies, the adoption of a law on electronic transactions and the protection of personal data, and the conversion of the Beirut Stock Exchange into a joint-stock company.
Moreover, the CEDRE recommendations emphasized the necessity to implement three judicial reforms focused exclusively on automating operations and judicial proceedings and strengthening the capacity of judicial institutions.
Another urgent problem that needs a government solution is the waste crisis. The Ministry of Environment is waiting for the government's approval of its plan in this regard, which is based on the adoption of decentralization, the reduction of waste quantities and the sorting from the source.
