Lebanon : Michel Aoun seeks to create a political vacuum
Observers believe that former President Michel Aoun directly sought to create a crisis before his departure from the presidential palace.
They had previously warned of a power vacuum in Lebanon after former President Aoun ended his term, without an alternative, on Sunday, October 30, a day before the end of his term, and after several voting sessions, the Lebanese Parliament has not elected a president yet, it is a position elected by legislators, not a popular vote, and occupied by a Maronite Christian.
The former President Aoun tried to spoil the situation and increase the political crisis, in which he sent a letter to the parliament 24 hours before the end of his term on October 31, in which he called on Prime Minister Najib Mikati to resign, and asked the Parliament to withdraw their confidence from his government. Aoun said that the government lacks legitimacy and should not assume the functions of the presidency.
Oil on fire
For their part, many lawmakers said that the Lebanese constitution grants the government, even if it is temporary, the right to run the country, if there is a presidential vacuum, and they argue that the president should be elected, not discussions about the government, according to Voice of America. Lebanese political analyst Dania Al-Khatib said Aoun’s latest action shows a joke because he wanted his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, who is unpopular for many, to assume the presidency. “It is a terrible thing that Aoun did a little before his departure, which was to sign the decree that the government should resign, to add fuel to the fire,” she said.
She added, “Well, you’re not legitimate, there’s a vacuum, and the pressure for his son-in-law Gebran Bassil to be president, nobody wants to melt domestically or internationally, even his allies don’t want him, it’s not just the fact that it’s a caretaker government, there’s no solution to anything, there’s no plan, there’s no economic and political will to undertake reforms, that’s why the presidential election is so important to bring in a strong president.”
The edge of the abyss
Barbra Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, said that the Biden administration is pressing urgently for the formation of a government in Lebanon, providing support to the most vulnerable groups, and requesting that IMF assistance be based on decisive reforms. We can see a scenario where there is disintegration, and this will be the worst.
She added that “Lebanon urgently needs a president, and immediately behind that is a prime minister who will deal with the president in forming a fully empowered government that will work on decisions, including major reforms that guarantee an IMF loan. Nothing we, or any other foreign partner, can do to replace what Lebanese political leaders have failed to do so far to form a government and carry out the urgent task of pulling Lebanon from the edge of the abyss.” According to the US, the Lebanese currency has lost more than 90% of its value over the past three years, and poverty and is still suffering from hyperinflation insecurity, unemployment, shortages of medicines, electricity, fuel, and food.
