by Dana Halawi
BEIRUT, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- While Lebanese political parties are currently struggling to find the best cabinet model that would maintain their power while satisfying protestors in the streets, local experts believed that the priority of any formed cabinet is to modify Lebanon's political system to enable the implementation of necessary economic reforms.
Makram Rabah, a lecturer of the Department of History at American University of Beiruit, told Xinhua that the optimal government needed is a government which is allowed or given extraordinary authority, particularly the ability to reform the political system in order to allow economic reforms to take place.
"This is not only a government of bureaucrats or technocrats but people who are allowed to operate without the intervention of the political class," he said.
Rabah said that Lebanon is not only facing the problem of economic collapse but also a crisis in governance and thus any future cabinet has to take into consideration these elements.
He added the political establishment must relinquish part of its authority.
"It is needed simply because the current political class has bankrupted this system and they can no longer stay in power under the same circumstances. No one is saying that we need people in the new cabinet to be fully neutral but they should have credibility as well as the abilities to enforce reforms," Rabah said.
Lebanon has been witnessing nationwide protests for the past 34 days which led to the toppling of the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
People have continued protesting while asking for a government capable of undertaking serious reforms.
People have also been demanding a complete modification of the political system by eradicating sectarianism.
Political parties have been trying to agree among each other on forming a cabinet that would protect their power while at the same time satisfy some of the people's demands.
Rabah believed that the names of the people in the new cabinet are not as important as the achievements that they plan to make.
However, Omar Wakim, a political analyst and civil society activist who ran for the 2018 parliamentary election, emphasized the need to form a cabinet that is completely free from any members of the current political ruling class.
"We want a government from outside the ruling class, which has a goal to create an electoral law free from any sectarian rules while going for new parliamentary election within a year," he said.
Wakim explained that the new cabinet should primarily work on changing the Lebanese political system from a sectarian system to a system with a cabinet comprised of credible people regardless of their religions and sects.
Wakim criticized the current ruling class for its failed attempts of coming up with a model that would keep them in power while giving an impression to the Lebanese people that they are willing to change by appointing technocrat ministers.
President Michel Aoun announced few days ago during a televised interview that Lebanon cannot have a fully technocrat government because the parliament, which represents political parties in Lebanon, won't vote for these new professional people.
He reiterated on Tuesday that the new government will comprise political figures and technocrats at the same time.
Wakim criticized the president's remarks, saying that Lebanon is aiming at changing the parliament in the first place because the current parliament does not have the confidence of the Lebanese people.
"This should be a transitory period to a whole new system. What politicians are doing is a waste of time. They won't even agree at the end because each wants the biggest share," he said.
For his part, Nabil al-Halabi, lawyer and director of LIFE, a platform for business development, emphasized the need to appoint a prime minister that is not involved in Lebanon's corrupted system with technocrat ministers who are well knowledgeable about politics and the policies in the country.
Halabi said the most important thing to do after a cabinet formation is to work with Hezbollah on restoring political balance in the country.
"There is currently no balance of power in the presence of Hezbollah's weapons. We should reach a political balance to end our disagreements with Western countries and prevent future economic sanctions," Halabi said.
