In the midst of a growing ambiguity over the Lebanese situation as a whole following the accusations that were traded between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-Designate Saad Hariri on the backdrop of a coup attempt pushing Hariri to lay down his tasks, it seemed clear that new political gamble has thrown the country into an open-ended labyrinth of crises with no breakthrough in sight.
After Lebanon hit the bottom on the scale of presidential and political performance, and after the emblematic presidential post was marginalized due to an absurd performance that turned it into a media platform in which counterfeit and falsehood accusations were exchanged, the Aounist rule is going through an advanced stage of weakness and lack of balance.
The rule under President Aoun is now adrift and is only banking on the power and weapons of Hezbollah to be able to stand firm in the battle of “the most despicable time under Aoun’s rule.” Meanwhile, more symptoms of the rule’s clinical death have been increasingly seen in its last two years.
What shall we expect after the 18th meeting between President Aoun and PM-Designate Hariri failed? What shall we expect after the failure of internal and external mediation to create solutions in order to break the governmental stalemate? Have the efforts aimed at forming a cabinet been definitively blocked?
In light of Hariri’s willingness to turn down his cabinet formation task on the sole condition that early presidential elections are held, has it become now an unchangeable fact to see an outgoing premier and a PM-Designate? What is the fate of the financial and economic situation which growing collapse could only be halted with the formation of a government? Has the country moved from a government crisis to a governance crisis? What is the next step that the Lebanese people will have to wait for? How can we get out of this dark tunnel? Is it possible to bet on a new internal or external mediation?
While we have no answers to any of the inquiries above, we are betting now on a miracle that might happen because no reports are suggesting that mediation is being held following the meeting of the two top leaders. Hopes of any mediation are almost non-existent after cabinet talks reached a dead-end.
Logically speaking, it became very difficult to suggest there are detail-related issues which are still obstructing the formation of a government amid an escalating financial meltdown. In light of all these developments, we’d rather ask now about external issues that are impeding the cabinet formation process. Nothing else would justify or explain the current governmental stalemate.
