BEIRUT: One ministry has two bosses, another has no one at the helm and a third has a minister who works when he’s up to it.
Welcome to Lebanon’s political imbroglio following the “resignation” of six pro-Syrian cabinet members.
The six men who threw in the towel in November have plunged the western-backed government of Fuad Siniora into an unprecedented political crisis, especially considering the portfolios at stake – foreign ministry, health, energy, agriculture, labour and environment.
“This whole situation is not normal,” said interim foreign minister Tareq Mitri, visibly annoyed that the man he is replacing still “interferes” in the affairs of a government he nonetheless considers as “illegitimate”.
The said man, Fawzi Sallukh, walked out 10 months ago and initially refused to set foot in his office.
But in recent weeks he has not only decided to show up to work but has also named 10 diplomats to vacant posts, ignoring the appointments to the same positions already made by Mitri.
“Either he’s in or he’s out,” Mitri said. “He cannot make use of his ministerial privileges when he feels like it.” The political paralysis has left government employees dealing with two ministers. Mitri is in charge of political decisions that need to be relayed to Lebanese diplomats worldwide.
Sallukh on the other hand takes care of administrative and financial issues. In recent days he has also met with foreign ambassadors to Lebanon, much to Mitri’s bemusement.
Questioned about the imbroglio, Sallukh defended his actions saying that it was his “right” and his “duty” to take care of current business in his ministry, especially since the government rejected his resignation.
Still, he refuses to represent Lebanon on the international scene claiming that it would be unacceptable for him to speak on behalf of a government he deems “unconstitutional” in light of the resignation of six ministers, five of them Shia.
Lebanon’s constitution calls for a sectarian distribution of political powers with the top government posts equally divided among the country’s Christian and Muslim groups.
The five Shia ministers who resigned did so following the failure of negotiations to create a national unity government in which the militant Shia group Hezbollah would have better representation.
The impasse threatens to scuttle upcoming presidential elections and has prompted each minister who resigned to deal with the situation on his own terms.
Health Minister Mohammed Khalifeh, for example, now works out of his home.
“I just couldn’t complicate people’s lives even more by refusing to deal with current issues that affect them,” he said.
Although he has tackled important reforms at his ministry and signs all documents needed for his office to function, he refuses to attend cabinet meetings or to show up at his office.
Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish, who is a member of Hezbollah, stays home and refuses to work saying that he saw no reason to extend himself “for a government responsible for the country’s paralysis”.
As for Labour Minister Trad Hamadeh, the only time he has shown up at his office since November was to oversee the election of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers.—AFP
