by naharnet -- Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil lashed out Sunday at Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and warned of a perceived attempt to return the country to the “pre-2005 era.” “What is the current specialty of the PM-designate?” Bassil said in a televised address, casting doubt on the possibility that the new government will be truly a so-called “government of specialists.” “The rule of specialty was not only broken in naming the premier but also the ministers! What does it mean to give a single minister two portfolios such as foreign affairs and agriculture or social affairs and environment or administrative development and youth and sport? What specialty is this?” Bassil asked. Lamenting that “there is no expertise nor standards nor rules in what is being proposed,” Bassil claimed that the objective is to “downsize the government and cling to 14 or 18 seats in order to aggrieve Druze and Greek Catholics.” He added: “We do not entrust Hariri alone with reform and to them this government is aimed at seizing control of the country and returning us to the pre-2005 era.”

Addressing the public opinion, he went on to say: “Do you believe that these people want a government for reform, forensic audit, combating corruption, recovering transferred and looted funds and lifting secrecy off the accounts of politicians and state employees? Who prevented them from abiding by CEDRE's reforms? No one, other than laziness, ignorance, reluctance to conduct reform and hunger for stealing public funds.” “There is a Lebanese Ghazi Kanaan and his electoral laws are present and there is a Lebanese Rustom Ghazaleh and his appointments are present,” Bassil added, apparently comparing the two late Syrian officers who were in charge of Lebanon’s file to rival Lebanese leaders. “We won’t allow a return to the era of marginalization and elimination,” Bassil stressed.

by thearabweekly.com -- ISTANBUL--Arab sources expected the surprise visit of the Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to Istanbul, where he held a long meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to have raised the issues of Gulf reconciliation and Turkish-French relations on top of the crisis faced by Lebanon where no government is yet in place despite Hariri’s efforts. Sources believe Hariri sought to explore the Turkish president’s reactions regarding recent developments within the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in light of the reconciliation between Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the kingdom of Bahrain, in addition to Egypt, which is not a member of the Council. Erdogan, they noted, has welcomed the declaration issued by the summit of the member states of the Cooperation Council (GCC) held in the Saudi city of Al-Ula. According to the sources, the Turkish president wants to be a part of the Gulf reconciliation process, being the first supporter of Qatar in its policy at all levels.

In statements, on Friday, Erdogan welcomed the reconciliation, saying that it would “be good for the region,” and that his country would directly benefit from it. He stressed that “Turkey will strengthen its relations with the Gulf,” and that ” Turkey will return to its stature in the coming period for the sake of Turkish-Gulf cooperation.” Ankara espouses a narrative that is supportive of reconciliation and tries to appease the Saudi leadership, in particular, in order to take advantage of this reconciliation opportunity and restore the Turkish-Gulf relationship to its status of before the Qatar crisis of June 2017.

by France24 — Marc Perelman — In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh expressed concern about …

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