Egypt on Line of Government Formation Crisis in Lebanon

On Friday, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, will meet the Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon, Yasser Alawi, to discuss efforts to form the Lebanese government headed by Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib.

The meeting between Berri and Alawi is an indication of an Egyptian effort that has started a few days ago to accelerate the formation of the new government in Lebanon, which continues to witness obstacles due to some ministries, especially the Ministry of Finance.

Efforts to form a new Lebanese government are still stalling, despite the contacts and meetings that took place during the past hours.

It has also been reported that the Prime Minister-designate is determined to form a government in accordance with the French initiative, which proposes forming a government of specialists away from political parties.

Adib met with officials from Hezbollah and the Amal movement, on Thursday, without nominating any definitive results from the meeting regarding the formation of the government, especially with regard to the Shiite duo’s insistence on naming the finance minister.

At a time when Adib was preparing to visit the Baabda Palace to inform Lebanese President Michel Aoun of the outcome of his consultations on forming the government, the presidential palace announced that the meeting would be postponed until this afternoon.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri had put forward an initiative to name Adib a minister from the Shiite sect of finance, provided that he was independent and that the issue of naming a Shiite minister in the ministry was approved for one time only, instead of adopting him custom.

Sources said that the regional factor plays an important role in delaying the process of forming the government, and it is expected that new obstacles will appear if the Amal movement and Hezbollah agree to Hariri's initiative and Adib's formation.

The head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, Talal Arslan, said that the government and its president will face more than one problem if the parliamentary blocs are not respected with the required specifications.