Lebanese President Offers To Abolish Confession-Based Distribution Of Ministerial Posts

Lebanese President Michel Aoun presented on Monday an offer to abolish the sectarian principle to distribute portfolios among the country's ministries and implement the constitutional system in a bid to resolve the fresh government crisis

BEIRUT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2020) Lebanese President Michel Aoun presented on Monday an offer to abolish the sectarian principle to distribute portfolios among the country's ministries and implement the constitutional system in a bid to resolve the fresh government crisis.

Mustapha Adib, who was appointed as Lebanon's new prime minister in late August, has so far failed to provide a new cabinet list despite the demand by French President Emmanuel Macron to do so by September 14. The French leader promised to hold a conference in October to gather aid for the middle Eastern country if the government formation deadline was met.

"There is a need to return to the constitution, as it does not stipulate the conferment of a specific ministry to a particular religious confession. I propose to cancel the confessional distribution of ministerial posts," Aoun told a press conference at the Baabda presidential palace.

According to Lebanese news outlets, the process of the cabinet's establishment has stalled over disputes on the post of the economy minister, as the Shia Hezbollah political party and the Amal Movement insisted on their candidacy to be appointed for the authority.

The sectarian system on the distribution of government portfolios was agreed upon back in 1989 within the framework of the Taif Agreement reached after the Lebanese Civil War.

Earlier in the day, Aoun said that Adib was unwilling to take into account the views of the parliamentary factions on the formation of a new government. The Lebanese leader highlighted that the lack of a consensus between the political blocs on the issue would bring the nation "to hell."

At the end of last week, Aoun and Macron held talks on the political situation in the Middle Eastern country and agreed on the need to form a new cabinet as soon as possible. During the Monday press conference, Aoun stressed that the country's government must be created not by the French president, but the Lebanese officials.