New Government Reported to Be Proposed Next Week According to Naharnet, “The formation of the new government has become imminent and the line-up will be officially announced next week at the latest, a media report said on Thursday.” [Naharnet]
Families of Port Explosion Victims Protest Alternative Judge Appointment According to L’Orient Today, “Relatives of detainees in the case of the Aug. 4, 2022, port blast observed Thursday evening a sit-in in front of the home of Judge Souheil Abboud, chairman of the Higher Judicial Council, in Ballouneh, Kesrouan, the state-run National News Agency reported. Protesters demanded a decision made by the Higher Judicial Council to appoint an alternative judge to rule on urgent matters.” [L’Orient Today]
Lebanese Guesthouse Wins Aga Khan Award for Architecture According to the National, “A Lebanese guesthouse, a Bangladeshi refugee space, a Senegalese school and a museum in Iran are among the winners of the $1 million Aga Khan Award for Architecture, now in its 45th year. The six award winners will share the prize pot, one of the largest in architecture, for an award that was established in 1977 by the Aga Khan to reward building projects and designs that address the needs of communities with significant Muslim populations . . . The renovation of Lebanon’s Niemeyer Guest House in Tripoli is one of the projects. It “is an inspiring tale of architecture’s capacity for repair, at a time of dizzying, entangled crisis around the world, and in Lebanon in particular”, the jury said. On the outskirts of the city, the building stands inside an entrance to the Rachid Karami International Fair, a project by architect Oscar Niemeyer that has been left derelict and unfinished after the country’s civil war halted it in 1975.” [The National]
OPINION & ANALYSIS
The National What’s Next For Lebanon With No Government And Soon No President? Nada Homsi
Homsi writes, “Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati have made assurances in recent days that a government formation is on the horizon before Mr Aoun’s term ends on October 31. At a recent meeting with EU ambassadors, Mr Aoun again affirmed his commitment to forming a government that would assume presidential powers in the event of a vacancy. As reported by Lebanese state media, Mr Aoun blamed the delays in the government formation on the challenges presented by Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system. By political convention, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the Parliament Speaker a Shiite Muslim. Meanwhile, the Parliament must contain a 50/50 ratio of Muslims and Christians.”
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a non-profit, nonpartisan leadership organization of Lebanese-Americans.
