Bassil Urges Govt. of 20-24 Seats, Suggests Reforms before Govt. Equation
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday lashed out anew at PM-designate Saad Hariri and accused him of following double standards in the cabinet formation process.
In a lengthy televised address, Bassil denied that the FPM and President Michel Aoun are seeking a one-third-plus-one share in the new government.
“Enough with the false accusations over the one-third-plus-one issue and with the lying to world capitals that we want it to control the government and so that Jebran Bassil becomes the next president,” the FPM chief said.
He added that the FPM has an initiative under which it would grant its votes of confidence to the new government.
“Let them raise the number of ministers from 18 to 20, and this is not so that we take an additional Christian seat for the president. We would accept giving this seat to Marada but not to the PM-designate, and it would be better if they raise the number to 22 or 24 to respect the principle of specialty instead of giving one minister two unrelated portfolios,” Bassil proposed.
Reiterating that the FPM only wants “fairness and balance in the distribution of portfolios,” Bassil added that the FPM would accept what Hizbullah would accept for itself.
“When the PM-designate says that naming the Sunni ministers is his exclusive right, when he takes from the Progressive Socialist Party the name of its (Druze) minister, and when he awaits the Shiite duo to give him the names of their ministers, he is accepting that the formation of the government be subject to the principle of the federalism of sects and parties,” Bassil said.
“If this is the governing principle, then the president must apply it to every Christian bloc that wants to participate,” he added.
Bassil also proposed another initiative under which the FPM would grant confidence to the government in parliament regardless of its participation in the cabinet.
“Approve the capital control law, approve the law for recovering stolen and transferred funds, and approve the law for lifting secrecy off the accounts and properties of those who perform public service,” Bassil suggested.
“Also ask Alvarez to begin the forensic auditing of the central bank without any pauses or setbacks,” he added.
21 February 2021, 15:17
04
Here we go again, abuse the religion(s). Of course each gangster needs a cut, why not 50 ministers , you please them all.
21 February 2021, 15:20
07
Bassil said Christian blocs should name their ministers in coordination with Aoun seeing as Hariri, the PSP and the Shiite duo will name "their own ministers."
and how is that in accordance with the French initiative that called for a government of independent experts?
This character must be executed.
21 February 2021, 15:22
03
الله يحميك
صهر
بي الكل
A Fearless Man - A Real Leader - A True Statesman - Christians Protector!
21 February 2021, 15:23
12
libanaisresilient 13 hours ago
OMG another big step towards the Presidency! Long live Bassil! You're the Man!
21 February 2021, 15:24
12
"the_roar:
Ladies and Gentlemen: Today you have just listened to the future president of Lebanon. Learn people, learn!"
21 February 2021, 15:24
12
"libanaisresilient 4 hours ago
Long live Bassil the future President of Lebanese republic!"
21 February 2021, 16:47
02
The government should have less ministers. 8 to 10 max. Otherwise things will get out of hand and there will be no coordination between portfolios and big loss of money occurs when that happens. Keep the ministers low and give them many portfolios each.
21 February 2021, 18:29
03
No country in the world has it's numbers of ministers shifts up or down with every change of government except the Banana Repubic of Libanistan.
So now the issue is they want 22-24 ministers. Why? What for? The public should force these MPs to adopt a law and codify into the constitution to have max 10-12 Ministries. I have on previous posts outlined how to reduce the Ministries and what could merged together and what others could under a specific Ministry as a separate dept.
Defense
Foreign - This could house the Culture and Tourism
Interior - This could house the Environment and Land management
Justice - This could house the Administrative portfolio
Finance/Treasury - This could house the Economy and Trade
Education
Health & Social Services
Transportation & Public works
Labor
Eliminate the information Ministry - unless we are a dictatorship the those types of government need their mouth piece which is typically the Info Minisrty
if I missed any please add.
21 February 2021, 22:01
03
Lower the number of ministers to cut cost and corruption. Increase the ministers so that you have more tinted cars, more escorts, more spending.
10 ministers only and worst case number is: 10. Why ?because people are hungry and the dollar is equal to Lebanon size.
Start saving money and use experts not religion.
It is called quality ministers and Not quantity.
22 February 2021, 09:19
60
enough double standards Harriri. You want to control everything yet what you have to offer is nothing.
22 February 2021, 13:59
04
Let's clarify a few things about Bassil and his party:
He/His party did not nominate Hariri as PM Designate
He/His party do not want to participate in the new government
But, he insists on naming the Christian ministers
But he proposes to change the cabinet lineup to 20 or 22 ministers
But, He calls on Christian parties to name their own ministers in the cabinet
But, He insists on having veto power
Then, he claims he is not obstructing government formation....
