Hariri: I've Decided to Help Adib Name an Independent Shiite Finance Minister

Ex-PM Saad Hariri on Tuesday proposed an initiative aimed at finding a solution to the deadlock over the finance ministerial portfolio.

“I have decided to help PM-designate (Mustafa) Adib find an exit through naming an independent finance minister from the Shiite sect who would be chosen by him, similarly to the rest of ministers, on the basis of competency, integrity and non-partisanship,” Hariri said in a written statement.

“This decision does not, in any way, signify an acknowledgment of the monopolization of the finance portfolio by the Shiite sect or by any other sect,” the ex-PM added.

“Once again I take a decision to ingest the poison, and it is a decision that I take alone, independently from the stance of former premiers, with my prior knowledge that this decision might be described by some as political suicide,” Hariri clarified.

Noting that his decision is “for the sake of the Lebanese,” the ex-PM said he is confident that there is no other alternative, describing the move as “an attempt to rescue the last chance for halting the terrible collapse and preventing the descent of Lebanon into the unknown.”

Hariri also pointed out that the allocation of the finance portfolio to the Shiite sect is “a novelty that exists neither in the Constitution nor in the Taef Accord.”

“With this step, the responsibility now falls on the shoulders of those obstructing the formation of the government. If they respond and facilitate (the process) we will win Lebanon and the Lebanese will win, and if they continue their obstruction, they will bear the responsibility for wasting Lebanon’s chance to halt the collapse and rescue the Lebanese,” the ex-PM added.