The words of the lawmakers during the budget discussion session are strange. Their criticisms of the government, their descriptions of the crisis, and their attempts to mirror the suffering of the people, the rising dollar price, and budget figures deserve commendation for their accuracy and alignment with the pulse of the street. The session was broadcast live, which is why many wanted to speak and raised their voices. The lawmakers intensified their rhetoric towards the caretaker government, accusing it of neglect, and this could continue indefinitely. This government is barely managing matters while its appointed head struggles once again to form an alternative government. The reason is "Aoun's insistence that the formation still requires extensive discussion."
Five months have passed under a caretaker government, with six visits to discuss government formation ending without an announcement of a new government. Whenever it is announced that the appointed Prime Minister Najib Mikati is visiting Baabda Palace, optimism about the imminent formation of the government revives. Logically, any meeting between the heads of the government and the republic should mean that discussing the government would naturally be a topic of their conversation. However, reality did not meet expectations, and Mikati's visit to Baabda was limited to a protocol meeting where he wished to inform Aoun of his travel to Britain to participate in the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, followed by participation in meetings in New York. We are talking here about a ten-day absence during which any discussions about the government were suspended.
Mikati left Baabda smiling, telling journalists, "This time we sat for half an hour, the next visit I will come and stay until the government is formed, and I will not leave, I will sleep here." When asked about the next appointment, he replied, "After my return from travel." Mikati intended his statement as a response to the president's claims that Mikati visits for a few minutes and leaves empty-handed. Mikati's reply to Aoun promised a visit where he would not leave without holding a government, especially since Aoun expressed readiness to discuss the government matter during the next visit, indicating that the file remains in a stage of discussions that may require further consideration and open-ended meetings.
Sources concerned with the governmental file stated that Mikati will head to Baabda after returning from his travel carrying the current government formation unchanged and that the president will satisfy himself with it, hinting at possible governmental breakthroughs soon if the intentions are sincere, asserting that Aoun will not accept making any changes to the current governmental balances, which prohibit altering any names of current ministers. The optimism is contradicting the governmental palace's position, which remains skeptical of the intentions of the head of the "Free Patriotic Movement" to accept the current government, believing that Aoun's mere indication to Mikati that the government issue would be discussed again means he will not be satisfied with the continuity of the current government and did not concede to the status quo.
In contrast, Mikati will spend the remaining time of the term consulting and heading to Baabda every week or so, and ultimately, the caretaker government may persist, which is not against the law and can perform its constitutionally agreed-upon tasks in the absence of the president, meaning that signing decisions is the responsibility of the relevant minister and the prime minister, not the cabinet as a whole. Mikati seeks to form a new government or reassign the current one with slight modifications to avoid issues, but if that fails, there is nothing that can be done. If Aoun insists on forming a government suited to the presidential vacuum, Mikati and others will not grant the term in its final days what they denied it throughout six years.
A few days ago, someone whispered to Mikati advising him to beware that Bassil aims to propose a formula for three ministers, including him and Salim Jreisati, to be among the ministers in the government that would assume the president's powers, which the prime minister outright rejected, proposing only minor ministerial changes. Between Baabda and Saray, the journey is measured in days, not distances, and from this perspective, the government formation file is approached. We are discussing a stubborn president who refuses to concede to his rival at any cost and a prime minister who is genuinely confronting Bassil, preventing him from storming and dominating his government.
The government is no longer a priority, and there are no genuine intentions to form it despite the contrary declarations by the concerned parties. It is a phase that will be governed by vacancy, stagnation, and time-wasting on all levels, while the dollar exchange rate soars without limits, untamed and unmanageable. But it is sufficient that the lawmakers are aware and discussing the matter. And that is the blessing.
