The cabinet meeting at the Serail, Mar. 19, 2024. (Credit: Press office of outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati)
The caretaker cabinet had another lucky escape. The cabinet held a meeting chaired by Mikati on Tuesday, but it did not approve the appointment of 234 customs inspectors. While this item was on the agenda, it was postponed for further study.
By doing so, Mikati avoided an unwelcome upheaval in the cabinet that is running the country on its own amid a presidential vacuum, particularly since the customs inspectors concerned are all Muslim.
Their appointment was bound to upset the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) — which has shunned the caretaker cabinet’s meetings since December 2022 — and which has been advocating for an “equitable partnership in the state.”
FPM leader Gebran Bassil is not alone in this fight. Other Christian ministers had decided before the meeting to prevent the caretaker cabinet from approving appointments in the absence of a president.
It is probably in the light of this decision that Mikati removed this item from the agenda. “I cannot allow a major schism in the country over a matter related to the appointment of civil servants,” Mikati told L’Orient-Le Jour.
However, this same cabinet appointed Hassan Audi (Druze) to the post of army chief of staff in February. Although this appointment came against the wishes of the FPM, it had a green light from Sleiman Frangieh’s Marada movement.
“The problem does not lie in the principle of the appointment, but in the monochrome appointments,” said Mikati about the fact that the 234 inspectors that were to be appointed are all Muslim (119 Shiites and 115 Sunnis).
During the cabinet meeting, he stated that he would not allow any party to exploit this issue for populist purposes or to score points. He called on “everyone to approach the issue objectively” and not to exploit it for “sectarian ends.”
“I want to deal with this issue to preserve national unity and avoid any conflict within the cabinet, especially as it has sectarian implications. I have therefore asked for an in-depth study,” he said.
Bassil’s angry, Makari strikes back
“The appointment of 234 customs inspectors, none of whom are Christians, in the absence of the president, by a caretaker cabinet that has been reduced and is not in line with the National Pact, implies that they [the sponsors of the cabinet] want to marginalize the Christians,” wrote Bassil on X a few hours before the cabinet meeting, holding the Christian ministers responsible.
“The political parties with whom these ministers are affiliated and the actors who are part of the cabinet or who provide it with political cover, led by the Amal-Hezbollah tandem, are also responsible,” Bassil added.
The FPM leader also criticized the MPs who have been refusing to sign the petition to bring the cabinet before the High Council, which is tasked with judging presidents and ministers.
“This decision, as well as preventing the election of a president in line with the National Pact, delivers to the Christians the message that ‘We only want you if you comply with our conditions’,” he added.
“Bassil is the least of my worries,” Mikati told L’Orient-Le Jour.
Caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makari (affiliated with the Marada) was much more explicit. Asked by a journalist to comment on Bassil’s stance, he said, “Since he considers us to be an illegal cabinet, he must stop sending us items linked to the ministries headed by those close to him for us [the cabinet] to adopt them. It would be better for [the FPM] to take part in the cabinet meeting. Because not doing so is proof of a lack of sense of responsibility.”
“Well done. It’s very good. This is the best way for [Marada leader] Sleiman Frangieh to get our votes for the presidential election,” said Martine Najem Kteily, FPM vice president for political affairs.
According to information obtained by L’Orient-Le Jour, one of the three members of the Supreme Council of Customs (SCC), Gracia Azzi, who is reputed to be close to the Lebanese Forces (LF), was the only one to oppose the results of the examination to fill vacant posts within this institution.
The cabinet granted a hearing to SCC member Rima Makki to explain the needs of the customs institution in what seemed like a bit to get around the problem. This was an opportunity for the caretaker Tourism Minister Walid Nassar to ask for data on the number of customs officials and to hold another competitiveness examination (instead of the 2020 version) while changing the selection criteria in a way that is in line with sectarian balances. The examination was thus postponed indefinitely.
This has earned the cabinet applause from FPM MP Asaad Dergham. “To quit committing a mistake is a virtue,” he wrote on X.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translated by Joelle El Khoury.