(Source: The Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon)
By Hussein Dakroub, The Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon
May 4--BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, known for his endemic optimism even at
the peak of the Lebanese crisis, sounded downbeat for the first time Tuesday
about the formation of a new government, dashing hopes for breaking a
three-month-long Cabinet stalemate that has thrown the country into a power
vacuum.
In the meantime, sources close to Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati
signaled that he would announce "a de facto government" if the row over the
Interior Ministry portfolio, which is being contested by President Michel
Sleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, was not resolved
soon.
Berri described the situation in Lebanon as "appalling" as a result of
the country being left without a government. He spoke during a meeting at his
residence in Ain al-Tineh with a delegation from the Arab and international
news agencies currently visiting Beirut to attend a conference to mark the
Silver Jubilee of the state-run National News Agency.
Asked whether he was still optimistic about the Cabinet's formation,
Berri said: "I don't want to talk about this subject. I feel hopeless and
gloomy when politics becomes impossible to understand. This means that the
country is in stagnation."
Berri, part of the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance that backed Mikati to
form a new government on Jan. 25, said that Mikati tried, for the first month
after his designation, to form a national unity Cabinet, including both the
March 8 and March 14 groups, and that he encouraged him in this.
But when the March 14 coalition decided not to join, putting conditions
on their participation in a national unity government, the Cabinet's formation
efforts were confined to one group, Berri said, referring to March 8.
"Therefore, the obstruction [of the Cabinet's formation] for more than
two months is no longer understandable," he added. Berri said that is why he
called last month for rain prayers in the hope it would help the formation of
the government.
"What matters now is that we hope not to have to hold funeral prayers
[for the Cabinet]," said Berri, known for his sarcastic remarks.
Berri's remarks came as Mikati's attempts to form a new government to
replace caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri's toppled Cabinet have stumbled,
mainly over the key Interior Ministry post.
The struggle between Sleiman and Aoun over who should name a consensus
candidate to the Interior Ministry portfolio is holding up the government's
formation.