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Lebanon: Aoun Prioritizes Cabinet Formation Before New PM’s Appointment

Speaker Berri met with President Aoun on Wednesday. NNA
Speaker Berri met with President Aoun on Wednesday. NNA
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Lebanon: Aoun Prioritizes Cabinet Formation Before New PM’s Appointment

Speaker Berri met with President Aoun on Wednesday. NNA
Speaker Berri met with President Aoun on Wednesday. NNA

Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri has proposed to President Michel Aoun the name of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri for the premiership, parliamentary sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The sources said that during their meeting at the Baabda Palace on Wednesday, Aoun was open to Berri’s suggestion, but the President has insisted on continuing talks with officials to reach consensus on the shape of the new government before announcing the date of binding parliamentary consultations to name the next PM.

The parliamentary sources said Thursday that Berri would spare no effort for a breakthrough in the cabinet formation.

“Berri held talks with Aoun out of his belief that Lebanon cannot rely on other countries to solve its own problems,” the sources said.

The international community has been repeatedly calling on the Lebanese officials to first help themselves if they wish to receive support to stop the current financial and economic collapse that culminated with the Aug. 4 explosion at the Port of Beirut.

The sources revealed that Berri's role is essential in staying in contact with Lebanon’s rival politicians.

“The Speaker considers that any breakthrough to the crisis begins with the parliamentary consultations to name a Prime Minister who forms a new cabinet,” the sources said.

This remains the only means to encourage French President Emmanuel Macron to return to Beirut early next month.

They said the international community, mainly the US, encourages the formation of an independent government, denying that Macron supports a national unity cabinet.

“Berri would wait until Sunday for Aoun to end his consultations. After Monday, the Speaker would have another say,” the sources said.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Berri is expected to meet Friday with head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Gebran Bassil, who is Aoun’s son-in-law.

Reports said that Aoun asked Berri to sit down with Bassil to discuss the government formation, adding that the meeting could be attended by Hussein Khalil, the political aide to Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, and the speaker’s advisor, Ali Hassan Khalil.

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UN Warns: Polio Continues to Threaten Lives of Yemeni Children

Since 2023, a series of polio immunization campaigns have been conducted (UN)
Since 2023, a series of polio immunization campaigns have been conducted (UN)
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UN Warns: Polio Continues to Threaten Lives of Yemeni Children

Since 2023, a series of polio immunization campaigns have been conducted (UN)
Since 2023, a series of polio immunization campaigns have been conducted (UN)

Yemen continues to battle an outbreak of variant poliovirus, with 273 cases reported over the last three years amid a humanitarian crisis and declining vaccination rates, two UN agencies warned on Saturday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said data paints an alarming picture that polio, a disease that can cause irreversible paralysis and death, and which can be prevented by vaccination, continues to threaten the lives of children in Yemen.
This comes at a time when Yemen’s children are also faced with life threatening problems such as cholera, diphtheria, and malnutrition, they said.
In Yemen, which until 2020 had been polio-free for decades, national polio immunization coverage dropped from 58% in 2022 to 46% in 2023 due to the fragility of the health system and the social, political and security crisis, WHO and UNICEF reported.
“The outbreak of variant poliovirus type 2 in Yemen persists amidst increasing health emergencies, further straining an already overburdened health system,” said Dr Arturo Pesigan, WHO Representative and Head of Mission in Yemen.
He added that “through renewed collective action and customized strategies that integrate health services with polio vaccination for Yemen’s children, we can enhance outbreak response and surveillance, making significant progress towards eradicating the spread of variant poliovirus in Yemen.”
To bridge the immunization gap and combat the surge in polio cases, WHO and UNICEF are teaming up with the Health Ministry and other partners to reach missed children and underserved communities.
Ongoing Campaigns
Since 2023, a series of polio immunization campaigns have been conducted. The two campaigns conducted in 2024 reached 1.2 million children in the first round in February, and over 1.3 million children in the second round in July, representing 100% and 102% coverage respectively.
In addition, the Health Ministry, WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and other partners are joining forces to implement the Big Catch-up initiative which aims to restore and accelerate routine immunization services for children who missed vital vaccines.
The authorities and health partners have jointly launched the Health Emergency Expansion Response (HEER) initiative, which aims to extend integrated primary health care (PHC) services, including vaccination.
The focus is on reaching underserved areas, enhancing health equity, and addressing the ongoing polio and measles outbreaks.
“The battle against polio is challenging in a fragile, conflict-affected context like Yemen. But eradication is within reach,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative to Yemen.
“We need to gather efforts with the local authorities, health professionals and community leaders among other partners to ensure that every child is vaccinated against polio and other preventable diseases,” he added.
Need for Assistance
While efforts are underway, additional support and resources are needed to step up initiatives to end polio and save the lives of vulnerable children.
WHO and UNICEF are calling on governments, partners and donors to prioritize the vaccination of all children against polio through vaccination campaigns, strengthen immunization systems to ensure all children receive essential, life-saving vaccines, deliver an integrated package of health services, including polio vaccine and protect humanitarian and health care workers delivering vaccines.
WHO and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) have launched a $3 million project to significantly boost immunization coverage and measles surveillance over a 15-month period.
More than 1.2 million people are set to benefit from this vital initiative to combat measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases across Aden, Hajjah, Saada and Taiz – four of the governorates most affected by Yemen’s current measles outbreak.
The project aims to ameliorate the coverage of children vulnerable to diseases such as measles, polio, diphtheria and pertussis.
Solar refrigerators will be provided to 81 health facilities as part of the project, ensuring greater access to vaccination services.
The project will be rolled out in 77 districts across the four target governorates. The project will involve 770 health facilities and deploy 1540 health workers to ensure regular vaccination throughout its duration.