Breaking the country’s isolation and sectarian rivalries

Munir Al-Rabie wrote in Al-Modon:

With a delay of more than four years, French President Emmanuel Macron returned to Lebanon, but not with the full result he had hoped for. In the year 2020, after the Beirut Port explosion, Macron proposed a comprehensive initiative to resolve the crisis in Lebanon, based on restructuring power, starting with the formation of a government of specialists, all the way to the idea of ​​early parliamentary elections, as a foundation for the completion of the presidential elections on time. Macron returned with the presidential election completed, and Nawaf Salam was assigned to form the government. The old French initiative had aborted. At the time, Hezbollah was strict in rejecting many of the conditions, which prompted Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adeeb to apologize for forming the government. Today, Nawaf Salam says it clearly, that no one will obstruct the formation of the government, and the formation will not be allowed to be prevented. During his tour, Macron recalled the same geographical places that he visited in 2020, and in his speech he recalled the phrase “the new social contract.” It is a phrase for which interpretations and translations have multiplied, while Salam clearly says: “The book that we adhere to and from which we start with the Presidents of the Republic and the House of Representatives is the Taif Constitution.”

What has changed since 2020

Circumstances changed a lot between 2020 and 2025. The balance of power in the region has changed. Macron’s return to Beirut is part of the confirmation of the French presence, and that what Paris was seeking has been achieved, even if the people he or she was supporting have changed. On the other hand, internal and external conditions seem to provide the necessary momentum to maintain the start of the era without obstacles or obstacles, in order to launch paths of political, financial and economic reform, and launch the reconstruction process in the south. Therefore, it is not possible to return to the work rules that controlled the paths of the 2020 initiative. At that time, Mustafa Adeeb failed to form the government, and after that, Saad Hariri was unable to complete his government formation, so the ball returned to the lap of President Najib Mikati, who did not form a government of specialists in the actual sense of the word. The government did not succeed in launching the path of financial, monetary, economic, banking, or political and administrative reform.

The language of Taif and the constitution

In practice, this is a new phase that Lebanon has entered, according to Macron. It is a stage in which there is no room for riots, obstruction or obstruction. This is what the Shiite duo is also thinking about, especially in light of the sense that there are no balances of power to enter into a discussion about amending the constitution or obtaining constitutional guarantees, especially since, in the symbolic language adopted by the Prime Minister-designate, during his first appearance at Baabda Palace, he raised the constitution and a letter of agreement. Taif. They accompanied him in all his non-binding parliamentary consultations in the House of Representatives, so that he would return and confirm this content after his meeting with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nabih Berri. Salam stressed that he is starting the process of forming his government from commitment to the Taif Agreement. This comes after the Shiite duo took a regressive step, which was to admit that there was no agreement concluded with external parties regarding the formula for electing the President of the Republic and the corresponding price for it. Rather, the duo confirmed that understandings had been reached with parliamentary blocs regarding the nomination of President Najib Mikati, but a change occurred, leading to the loss of the Shiite duo’s candidate.

Flexibility required

This retrograde position opened the door to facilitating the formation of the government and openness to participation in it, after positions calmed down and heads cooled. This is what established the positive meeting between Salam and Berri, especially in terms of discussing the government’s vision and ensuring understanding and everyone’s participation in it. This has more than one destination or possibility. The Prime Minister-designate does not want to repeat previous experiences in forming governments, nor to carry out the process of overthrowing previous governments from his government with a change of names, in addition to his participation and the President of the Republic in choosing ministers and reaching an understanding with other forces or parliamentary blocs. Here, the Shiite duo must show flexibility in the formation mechanism.

The Shiite duo is keen to participate in this government, especially months away from the next parliamentary elections, and in light of the undertaking of a reconstruction project. Therefore, he has no choice but to engage in power. He sets clear demands, the most prominent of which is the Ministry of Finance, which is supposed to remain with the Shiite community, provided that it is represented by a non-partisan figure who enjoys international trust. Here, the names of Yassin Jaber and Wassim Mansouri are nominated, in addition to other portfolios being claimed.

On the other hand, the Presidents of the Republic and the Government are clinging to the representation of the duo in the government, but not on the basis of monopolizing Shiite representation, because the starting points of the formation will not be according to the previous starting points, or the representation will be based on the size of the parliamentary blocs, their recommendations, and their distributions.

Guarantee for everyone

In this context, it must be pointed out that the prime minister who can most deeply understand the concerns of all components is a person like Nawaf Salam. He is far from flattery, and from the issue of continuing and staying in power and making concessions for its sake. He goes beyond the issue of power. With his personal project, he represents an ambition to rebuild the country. Therefore, he is keen to ensure the rights of everyone and not the rights of sects or parties, and what he can enshrine cannot be given or granted by anyone to others for the sake of flattery to maintain power.

Any agreement with Salam is the beginning of breaking the country’s isolation and breaking up the rivalries between the sects, especially the vertical division that exists between the Shiite duo and the other forces opposing it. Which means taking a new path to confront the “apprehensions” existing between opponents. Therefore, it is a beginning that can be the best mechanism for correcting the relationship of sects and their members with the state.