Birth Pangs Over, Lebanon Has a New Government

Finally, the birth pang are over.
Lebanon has a new government.

Souhail Bouji, the Secretary General of the Lebanese Cabinet, announced the birth of the new government following a meeting with President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri at the Presidential Palace in Baabda.

The first decree said that President Suleiman accepted the resignation of Saniora’s former government, while the second decree said that the President announces Saniora as head of the new government.

Saniora spoke to reporters after the announcement and said that his new government has two basic missions: “to restore confidence in the Lebanese political system and constitutional institutions…and make sure that the Lebanese leaders would take the interests of the Lebanese into consideration regardless of their differences. The second mission is hold legislative elections and work on keeping the government at the same distance from all parties.”

Saniora added that the “Lebanese want a government that would lead them to the future, an we will put everything behind us to form a unified team. We will work on easing the burdens off the shoulders of the people and consolidate stability on the security and social levels.”

The lineup was named in a decree signed by President Suleiman and Saniora:

1 - Fouad Saniora: Prime Minister
2 - Issam Abu Jamra: Vice PM
3 - Elias Murr: Defense
4 - Ziad Baroud: Interior and Municipalities
5 - Jibran Bassil: Telecommunications
6 - Mohammad Shatah: Finance
7 - Mohammad Safadi: Economics
8 - Mohammad Fneish: Labor
9 - Fawzi Saloukh: Foreign
10 - Bahiyah Hariri: Education
11 - Talal Areslan: Youth and Sports
12 - Elie Marouni: Tourism
13 - Ghazi Zaiter: Industry
14 - Ghazi Aridi: Public Works
15 - Alain Taborian: Energy
16 - Tareq Mitri: Information
17 - Tamam Salam: Culture
18 - Antoine Karam: Environment
19 - Ibrahim Najjar: Justice
20 – Elias Skaff: Agriculture
21 – Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh: Health
22 – Mario Aoun: Social Affairs
23 – Ali Kanso: State Minister
24 – Reimond Aoudi: Displaced
25 – Wael Abu Faour: State Minister
26 – Nassib Lahoud: State Minister
27 – Yusuf Takla: State Minister
28 – Jean Ogassapian: State Minister
29 – Khaled Kabbani: State Minister
30 – Ibrahim Shamseddine: State Minister for Administrative Development

President Suleiman had given the loyalty and opposition blocs until Friday afternoon to form the government. “If Prime Minister Designate Fouad Saniora did not visit the Presidential Palace before 15:00 local time with a cabinet line-up ready to be announced, then things will turn different,” the Al-Akhbar daily said.

On the 28th May 2008, President Suleiman named Saniora to form the new cabinet, after political feuding parties signed an agreement in Qatar, known as the Doha Accord. The process of forming the government had passed through difficult stages and both loyalty and opposition blocs have blamed each other for obstructing the formation of the new national unity government.

MP Saad Hariri, head of the Future Movement, said that he asked Saniora “to accept the nomination of Ali Qanso” in the line-up. According to Assafir, the most recent delay in announcing the government was due to another attempt by Saniora and his ruling bloc to pressure the opposition into replacing the former head of the Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) Ali Qanso with another Shiite from the same party.

“I found that Lebanon was in front of two options: either to head to the unknown or to form the government to overcome this phase and return to normal life,” Saniora said after the announcement of the government.

The opposition, however, stuck to the nomination of Qanso and warned that vetoing any minister will lead to counter-vetoes the first of which is the Lebanese Forces candidate to take the Justice portfolio. "Whoever squanders justice and the justice ministry should accept the whole Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) in the cabinet, not just Ali Qanso," Berri said.

The Speaker accused the “March 14 bloc” of "squandering justice and the justice ministry." In an interview with the Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas, Berri did not elaborate on the charge that was apparently in reference to a decision by the majority to nominate Ibrahim Najjar from Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces to the justice portfolio in the forthcoming cabinet.

He also warned that failing to form a government would lead "things back to the street, one way or the other.”