With a "puffed-up" demeanor, the head of the "Free Patriotic Movement," Gibran Bassil, made efforts to highlight his participation in the non-binding parliamentary consultation after requesting the participation of the "Tashnag" deputies and MP Mohamed Yahya alongside him in a meeting with Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati. However, statements from "Tashnag" and Yahya quickly brought him back to his "natural size" outside the meeting room, as they exhibited a clear differentiation in stance from the "National Movement" regarding the formation process. This was evident in MP Hagop Bghdadounian confirming their readiness to participate in the government and Yahya expressing his support for Mikati's directions.
Bassil struggled to create artificial gestures and expressions of ease and self-confidence in front of the cameras to hide the confusion and imbalance that overshadowed the essence of his statement from the Parliament. He appeared sensitive to the weak position of imposing conditions for the formation this time, as the end of the term approaches. This resulted in a wavering stance, now emphasizing the existence of a "real problem with the mandate's legitimacy," then confirming that "this problem has been overcome." At times, he expressed reluctance to participate in the government, while at other times stating there is no final decision yet not to participate, thus leaving the door slightly ajar for negotiations with the Prime Minister-designate to enter an "open bazaar" for bargains and allocations under the ceiling of conditions he enumerated yesterday, foremost of which are "the governorship of the central bank and the rotation of portfolios."
On the opposite governmental side, Mikati clearly outlined the broad lines of his governmental vision, confining the tasks of the anticipated formation to several priorities, the most important of which are "completing what his resigned government initiated" with the IMF, achieving "the electricity plan," and the "maritime boundary demarcation file" with Israel. Current information indicates that the ongoing direction in the proposed ministerial amendment in the new government structure is towards wresting the Ministry of Energy from the grip of the head of the "Free Patriotic Movement" to ensure the halt of the obstruction of solutions to the electricity crisis. This is within a framework of ministerial rotation at the sectarian level, leading to assigning the Ministry of Economy to the Maronites in exchange for giving the Ministry of Energy to a Sunni minister.
Today, Mikati will visit the Baabda Palace for a "pulse-taking" visit, as described by sources accompanying the formation consultations. These sources explained to "Nidaa al-Watan" that the visit aims to "brainstorm ideas with President Michel Aoun in light of the results of the consultations that the Prime Minister-designate has conducted with the blocs and deputies in Parliament." The sources did not rule out that Mikati would present "his vision for the government formation, in both shape and content, to Aoun, especially since his position has become clear regarding preferring to maintain the technocratic government character," contrasting with other ideas supported by "Hezbollah," which favors incorporating politicians into a 30-minister formation by adding 6 ministers of state to the existing 24 in the caretaker government. The sources concluded by expressing their belief that the atmosphere of today's meeting between Aoun and Mikati "will determine the course of the formation, whether it moves towards facilitation or obstruction."
