The political settlement that led to the election of General Michel Aoun as president is in urgent need of a lever to save it from collapsing, according to well-informed ministerial sources. The sources said only a nationwide dialogue launched by Aoun and involving key parties in the government could restore the political equation.
The ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the settlement forged by Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Aoun ended the presidential vacuum and paved the way for the revival of constitutional institutions.
“Today, there is an urgent need for a presidential initiative to launch an open dialogue, as the only means to resolve disputes and address concerns threatening political stability,” the sources underlined.
“Neither economic stability nor administrative or financial reform could be achieved without providing a political safety net for the country to recover from its economic and social crises,” they added.
The sources also said that the election of Aoun as president came after his understanding with Hariri on a set of issues that were supposed to move the country to a new political stage and end the disruptions that have been behind the extension of the presidential vacuum. That in addition to his agreement with the Lebanese Forces Party leader Samir Geagea, known as the Maarab Declaration.
“But this Declaration is now shaking because of the political coup led by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who disregarded the broad lines contained in it, out of his intention to present himself as the most powerful representative of Christians on the one hand; and his attempts to monopolize the Christian quota in State appointments on the other,” the sources explained.
The ministerial sources said that the protection of the settlement “depends first and foremost on Aoun, who has to intervene to curb Bassil’s attempts to benefit from his influence within State institutions and to monopolize the Christian street.”
“It is not in the interest of Aoun to weaken Hariri, because the imbalance will automatically affect the settlement, which was not properly implemented due to… the insistence of the foreign minister to act as the final commander,” they emphasized.
