Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said today, Wednesday, that the Ministry of Finance and other ministerial portfolios are not the exclusive right of any sect in the country.
Hariri referred to a complicated issue that represents the core of a dispute over the formation of the new government in Lebanon.
Hariri twitted today that he rejects the idea of rotating control over ministries which thwarted "the last chance to save Lebanon and the Lebanese, referring to French efforts to get Lebanese leaders to form a new government and adopt reforms.
The former PM had confirmed that the Beirut port explosion last month had left destructive consequences when Beirut was suffocating with the smoke that blanket the capital.
The former PM linked that explosion to negligence and the feeling of the absence of the state, and there is no escape from the definition of responsibilities.
He said, in a tweet on his official account on Twitter: "The port fire moved the wards from the port explosion disaster that requires a transparent investigation at the highest levels.
He stressed that there is no escape from specifying responsibilities, reconsidering safety measures and preventing recurrent disasters.
On the other hand, an official in the French presidency said today, Wednesday, that France regrets the failure of Lebanese politicians to form a government, two weeks after French President Emmanuel Macron set a deadline for that on September 15. He explained that it is not too late to form a government.
"France regrets the failure of Lebanese political leaders to abide by the pledges they made to President Macron on September 1, 2020, according to the announced time-frame," the official said.
The official added that it is not too late when the politicians should fulfill their responsibilities and ultimately act in the interest of Lebanon alone by giving Mustafa Adeeb the opportunity to form a government that suits the seriousness of the situation.
Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Socialist Party, said today that some do not seem to understand that the efforts led by France to extricate Lebanon from the crisis is the last chance to save the country, echoing a warning from Paris that Lebanon is in danger of disappearing without implementing reforms.
Lebanon is facing a severe economic and financial crisis that poses the greatest threat to its stability since the civil war that raged between 1975 and 1990.
The current crisis was exacerbated by a devastating explosion in the Beirut port on August 4.
France is pressing the pided politicians to form a new government in order to start reforming the country that suffers from widespread corruption. But the politicians have already passed a deadline that expired on Tuesday, which they agreed with Paris to form a new government.
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said last month that Lebanon is in danger of disappearing without necessary reforms.
The Prime Minister-designate is seeking to form a government to implement reforms mentioned in the French road map.
Sources say that he seeks to negotiate control of the ministries, many of which have been subject to the same factions for years. The most prominent objections came from the politician Nabih Berri, Speaker of Parliament.
Berri insists on the finance minister nomination, a position he has decided since 2014.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that its mission arrived in Lebanon Monday to begin its work on Monday to help authorities assess the risks of radiation after the Beirut port explosion on August 4.
Following the catastrophic explosion, at the Beirut port last month, the agency took swift measures to help Lebanon respond to its immediate needs," said the agency's director general, Rafael Grossi, in a speech delivered at a meeting of its board of governors today.
Grossi confirmed that the agency has undertaken joint work with the Lebanese authorities to estimate the extent of damage to the health sector and infrastructure of Beirut as a result of the explosion.
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