Lebanon: Aoun Bargains with Interior, Finance Ministries to Keep Control Over Energy

President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib during talks at the Baabda Palace (Reuters/ Mohammed Azakir)
President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib during talks at the Baabda Palace (Reuters/ Mohammed Azakir)
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Lebanon: Aoun Bargains with Interior, Finance Ministries to Keep Control Over Energy

President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib during talks at the Baabda Palace (Reuters/ Mohammed Azakir)
President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib during talks at the Baabda Palace (Reuters/ Mohammed Azakir)

Lebanese President Michel Aoun is responsible for the delay in the formation of the new government, Lebanese political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The president’s first priority, according to the sources, is to bring back his son-in-law, former Minister and MP Gebran Bassil, to the forefront, and to reserve the largest number of ministerial seats for his Christian bloc, including the ministry of Energy.

The political sources revealed that the General Security chief, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, has been working behind the scene to resolve the nodes that are hindering the cabinet formation. Ibrahim has recently met with Aoun, who informed him that he favored a government of 24 specialists of political background, “to facilitate the implementation of reforms.”

According to the sources, Aoun supports, in one way or another, Bassil’s request to implement rotation in the redistribution of portfolios to the different sects. They said he suggested that the financial and the interior ministries be the share of the Christians, in exchange for assigning the defense and foreign ministries to the Muslims.

The same sources explained that Aoun wanted to convey a message that the Shiites’ insistence on preserving the finance portfolio - which grants them the authority to sign the decrees of a financial nature - does not give them the right to veto the redistribution of ministerial portfolios.

In other words, Aoun - according to these sources - absolutely refuses any party to use the right of veto to prevent the allocation of the ministry of Energy to a Christian minister. The president considers the energy as an exclusive right to his political party, led by Bassil.

Therefore, the sources said Aoun was bargaining with the Interior and Finance ministries, in exchange for maintaining the energy within his share.

Moreover, the president’s insistence on forming an expanded government was aimed at bringing Bassil to the forefront, in light of the rejection of the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb party to participate in the government, according to the sources.

However, Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib would not approve a cabinet of 24 ministers and insisted on excluding Bassil from his ongoing talks with Aoun.

Adib is also working to prepare a draft ministerial lineup that he would present to the Baabda Palace at the end of this week.



Türkiye's AJet to Start Flights to Syria's Damascus

A United Nations airliner is pictured on the tarmac of the closed Damascus International Airport on December 11, 2024, three days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. (AFP)
A United Nations airliner is pictured on the tarmac of the closed Damascus International Airport on December 11, 2024, three days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. (AFP)
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Türkiye's AJet to Start Flights to Syria's Damascus

A United Nations airliner is pictured on the tarmac of the closed Damascus International Airport on December 11, 2024, three days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. (AFP)
A United Nations airliner is pictured on the tarmac of the closed Damascus International Airport on December 11, 2024, three days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. (AFP)

Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet said it will start flights to Damascus International from Istanbul and Ankara airports in mid-June.

AJet said in a statement that flights from Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from June 16.

Flights will initially take place four times per week before operating daily from July, it added, Reuters reported.

Flights to Damascus from the Turkish capital Ankara will start from June 17, three-times per week, the carrier also said.

Turkish Airlines resumed flights to Damascus in January after a 13-year suspension.

Türkiye, a close ally of the new government in Damascus, has pledged to support the country's reconstruction.

Ankara has already helped with the improvement and maintenance of Syria's airports, the Turkish transport minister has said.