Cabinet Holds 1st Meeting amid Kataeb Absence, Drafting Policy Statement Next Goal

Lebanon's council of ministers held its first meeting at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Wednesday, after its formation over the weekend, and formed a committee designed to draft a new ministerial statement, media reports said.

The cabinet which brought together the entire political spectrum except for the Kataeb party, that rejected the portfolio it was offered, had a commemorative photo taken in the presence of the three senior officials President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Ahead of the cabinet convention, Aoun, Berri and Hariri held a meeting after which the Speaker left the palace.

The cabinet body, chaired by Aoun, stood a moment of silence in honor of the victims of terrorism.

The cabinet agreed to form a committee of 7 ministers including Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos, Sport and Youth Minister Mohammed Fneish, Social Affairs Pierre Bou Assi, Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh, Justice Minister Salim Jreissati and PM Saad Hariri to draft the policy statement.

The committee is set to take its first meeting at 5:00 pm at the Grand Serail.

For his part, Mashnouq said: “If a new electoral law was agreed, we might need to postpone the elections technically.”

During the meeting, President Aoun stressed the need to give priority to devising a new election law in order to help facilitate the people's affairs.

The PM however stressed the need for cooperation “at this stage.”

The upcoming step for the cabinet is to devise a ministerial statement based on which the parliament is set to give its vote of confidence.

Hariri's cabinet was formed on Sunday, 45 days after his designation for the task.

He assumed his duties at the Grand Serail on Tuesday and was welcomed by the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers Fouad Fleifel, and senior government staff at the Grand Serail that lies in downtown Beirut .

On Sunday, Lebanon acquired a new 30-minister government led by Hariri, where new portfolios include an anti-corruption post and, for the first time, a minister of state for women's affairs.