Designated Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaking to the press at the presidential palace of Baabda on January 17, 2025. Photo AFP
BEIRUT — Cabinet formation talks led by Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam faced a setback Thursday as Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, representing the Amal-Hezbollah alliance, demanded input on the selection of the fifth Shiite minister. This minister is expected to take on the Administrative Reform Ministry.
L'Orient-Le Jour learned that Salam suggested Nasser Saidi, a former economy minister and deputy governor of Lebanon’s Banque du Liban (BDL), for the role in a proposed 24-member cabinet. Salam reportedly put forward Saidi's name after Berri blocked the candidacy of economist Lamia Moubayed for the same position on Thursday, stalling the cabinet formation process.
Reacting to the developments, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai on Friday denounced what he called a “return to the principle of sharing the spoils” in government formation. “The prime minister is not a postman, and the formation of the government should not be delayed due to disagreement over a name or another,” he said during a meeting in Bkerkeh with a press union delegation. Rai stressed the need to instill confidence in the new cabinet, warning that “each day's delay is a loss for Lebanon.” He added that both domestic and international trust in the president and the prime minister-designate remains strong and must be reflected in the swift formation of a government, urging the public to support the process in a spirit of national unity.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil once again voiced his frustration over the government formation process, claiming he is being sidelined in favor of the Shiite alliance and other Christian parties. “If you don’t want to give the Shiite duo a blocking third, then reduce the number of their ministers or that of their allies, but don’t reduce from ours,” he said during a press conference on Friday.
He also accused the prime minister-designate of encroaching on his party’s share of appointments, particularly by "appointing a large number of Christian [ministers] himself."
The president and the prime minister-designate’s insistence on appointing a fifth Shiite minister of their choosing was aimed at preventing the Amal-Hezbollah alliance from orchestrating a collective resignation of Shiite ministers — a move that could paralyze the next government under the pretext of maintaining “sectarian legitimacy.”
“The problem lies in Salam's insistence on appointing our ministerial candidates. He gives us the impression of wanting to marginalize us,” a formation official told L'Orient-Le Jour on Thursday.
