Finance Minister Yassine Jaber. (Credit: NNA)
Finance Minister Yassine Jaber stated on Sunday evening in an interview on al-Jadeed that tensions between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the Hezbollah-Amal alliance would "calm down," and that this issue had to be resolved because the government faces "crucial challenges."
In the interview, Jaber said that things were moving towards an easing of tensions with the prime minister, reiterating the expression used in an interview on Friday with the daily al-Joumhouria by Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri where he said that "if [the prime minister] raises his voice, we will do the same. If he calms things down, we will follow suit."
Rajji's 'personal views'
Jaber emphasized the importance of calming tensions between the two parties and Salam, "because the challenges we are facing are crucial." In recent weeks, Salam used very harsh words against Hezbollah, stating notably that "the era of exporting the Iranian revolution is over," or telling the Lebanese diaspora in the Emirates that "the sovereignty of the state must extend over the entire national territory" and that "weapons must be exclusively in the hands of the state, which must regain its authority over decisions of war and peace."
Jaber criticized the strong positions against Hezbollah, this time coming from Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Rajji, close to the Lebanese Forces. "Foreign policy is determined by the president and the government, and the statements of the foreign affairs minister have not been adopted by the government at any meeting and reflect personal views of Minister Rajji,' he stated.
Rajji said last Wednesday that "Hezbollah does not want to give up its weapons." He added that "the Lebanese State does not negotiate its sovereignty," accusing, among others, this "outlaw" party of providing a pretext for the Israelis to continue their attacks against Lebanon.
Missiles on a moped?
Commenting on the ongoing Israeli strikes against southern Lebanon, Jaber deplored that "every day, Israel targets citizens in the south."
"Do moped drivers carry missiles?" he questioned, alluding to the large number of drone strikes targeting truck or motorcycle drivers. According to L'Orient Today's count, at least 171 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and shootings since the cease-fire took effect.
The finance minister also stated that the beginning of the reconstruction process of areas devastated by the recent war between Hezbollah and Israel was not linked to the state monopoly on arms and to Hezbollah's disarmament, but "to reforms." On this matter, he said that within 10 days, the vice-governor of the Central Bank and the Banking Supervision Committee of the Central Bank would be appointed. Lebanon expects to "receive $1 billion out of the $7 billion needed for reconstruction."
The finance minister is scheduled to meet in the morning with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund, which has been in Beirut since the end of last week.
