NEW LEBANESE CABINET ANNOUNCED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIRUT 001214 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR UNSC LE SUBJECT: NEW LEBANESE CABINET ANNOUNCED REF: BEIRUT 850 Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: After nearly five months of negotiations, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri formed a cabinet on November 9. The cabinet held its initial meeting on November 10 and selected the committee that will negotiate the ministerial statement, which must be approved by parliament within 30 days. The new cabinet offers fifteen ministerial seats to the majority, ten to the opposition, and five to President Michel Sleiman. Eleven ministers returned from the previous cabinet, although some changed ministries. Hariri's achievement was complicated by complaints from some of his Christian allies, in particular Kataeb. End Summary. HARIRI REALIZES NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT -------------- ¶2. (C) After nearly five months of negotiations, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri formed a cabinet on November ¶9. After signing the decree forming the government with President Michel Sleiman, Hariri explained that he intends to work with all parties as prime minister, and he called on all sides to "prove to the entire world that the government reflects the national coalition." Privately, Hariri told visiting CODEL Price the same day that his first priority is to move forward with an economic reform agenda. ¶3. (C) Hariri's achievement was complicated by complaints from some of his Christian allies. MP Michel Pharaon, tipped to be minister of state for parliamentary affairs, initially refused to participate, only to backtrack later and claim that his position had been misconstrued by the media. The Kataeb party also balked at joining the cabinet after being given the social affairs ministry instead of education. The party's minister, Salim el Sayegh, skipped the new cabinet's official photograph and its first meeting. Hariri, who told the Ambassador that he had "done the best" he could to placate Kataeb, visited Kataeb head and former President Amine Gemayel before the cabinet meeting, but failed to convince Gemayel to back down. ¶4. (C) The Ambassador spoke with Amine Gemayel on November 9 and 10; MP Samy Gemayel (Amine's son) indicated to us Kataeb might consider remaining in the cabinet if it could obtain "healthy" resources for the social affairs ministry. Both Nader Hariri, adviser to the PM, and March 14 Secretary General Fares Souaid us that Kataeb will likely remain in the cabinet because it has "nowhere else to go." The new cabinet went forward on the assumption that al Sayegh will participate by nominating him to participate in the committee drafting the ministerial statement. The Gemayel family will meet tonight to discuss the way forward, and the Kataeb central committee will convene again on the afternoon of November 11. Samy Gemayel noted to us the possibility of Kataeb "adopting a constructive opposition approach within the cabinet," leading us to believe that the party may indeed formally withdraw from the March 14 coalition while remaining in the cabinet. (Note: Kataeb already withdrew from the March 14 secretariat in August, only to return several weeks later. End note.) CABINET TO FOCUS ON MINISTERIAL STATEMENT -------------- ¶5. (C) The cabinet held its initial meeting in Baabda Palace on November 10 following the official photograph. During the session, the cabinet selected the committee that will negotiate the ministerial statement, a program for action that must be approved by parliament within 30 days. The committee consists of Salim el Sayegh, Boutros Harb, Tariq Mitri, Mohammad Fneish, Jean Ogassapian, Wael Abu Faour, Ziad Baroud, Gebran Bassil, Ali al-Shami, Charbel Nahhas, Rayya Haffar and Youssef Saadeh. The new cabinet has assumed caretaker status until the statement is approved. The issues of Hizballah's weapons, Lebanon's relationship with Syria, and respect for UN Security Council resolutions are the likely points of friction in the statement, but Nader Hariri assured us that the text will be settled quickly. Such a quick solution will be possible only if the drafters take President Sleiman's advice that the committee take as its starting point the last ministerial statement, which relied on ambiguous language to mask fundamental disagreements on these topics. CABINET COMPOSITION -------------- ¶6. (C) The resulting 30-member cabinet offers 15 ministerial chairs to the majority, ten to the opposition, and five to President Michel Sleiman. The opposition initially demanded a blocking third on key government decisions, and they obtained it indirectly via the Shia minister in the president's bloc, Adnan as-Sayyed Hussein, who is a consensus candidate chosen by Hariri in consultation with the president and Hizballah (reftel). ¶7. (U) The following ministers were not returned in the new cabinet: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abou Jamra, Finance Minister Mohammad Chatah, Social Affairs Minister Mario Aoun, Industry Minister Ghazi Zoayter, Tourism Minister Elie Marouni, Culture Minister Tammam Salam, Environment Minister Antoine Karam, Minister of the Displaced Raymond Audi, Administrative Reform Minister Ibrahim Shamseddine, Youth and Sports Minister Talal Arslan, Education Minister Bahia Hariri, Foreign Affairs Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Energy and Water Minister Alain Tabourian, Agriculture Minister Elie Skaff, State Minister Ali Qanso, State Minister Khaled Qabbani, and State Minister Nassib Lahoud. ¶8. (SBU) The complete list of the new cabinet follows: MINISTERS DESIGNATED BY THE MAJORITY (15 MINISTERS) -------------- -------------- -- Prime Minister Saad Rafiq Hariri, Future Movement, Sunni (new). -- Wael Abu Faour, Minister of State without Portfolio, Progressive Socialist Party, Druze (returning). -- Ghazi Aridi, Minister of Transportation and Public Works, Progressive Socialist Party, Druze (returning). -- Rayya Mohammad Haffar al-Hassan, Minister of Finance, Future Movement, Sunni (new): Haffar obtained a B.A. in business administration from the American University of Beirut in 1987 and an MBA from the George Washington University in 1990. She most recently worked in Prime Minister Siniora's office developing an economic agenda as part of the Paris II and Paris III conferences. She oversaw the World Bank reform program for social affairs as part of her responsibilities and participated in the World Bank donors program to rebuild the Nahr al-Barid refugee camp. She formerly served as an advisor to the minister of economy from 2000 to 2003 and an assistant to the minister of finance from 1993 to 1998. Haffar reportedly has extensive budget experience and is very highly regarded. Some contacts have expressed doubts as to whether she will be strong enough to play hardball, as the finance minister is required to do. -- Boutros al-Khoury Harb, Minister of Labor, Independent aligned with March 14 coalition, Maronite (new): Harb obtained a law degree from St. Joseph University in 1965. He was first elected as an MP in 1972 and has retained his seat since then. He has previously served as education minister and public works minister. Harb is highly respected for his legal expertise and was a key player in drafting the 1989 Taif Accords. -- Tareq Mitri, Minister of Information, Independent aligned with March 14 coalition, Greek Orthodox (returning). -- Hassan Abdulmajeed Mneimneh, Minister of Education, Future Movement, Sunni (new): Mneimneh obtained a B.A. in history from the Lebanese University and a doctorate in history from the Sorbonne. He served as the dean of the liberal arts college at Lebanese University and remains a professor there. He has participated in many educational bodies and is a member of the Future Movement education committee. -- Ibrahim Najjar, Minister of Justice, Independent aligned with the Lebanese Forces, Greek Orthodox (returning). -- Jean Ogassapian, Minister of State without Portfolio, Future Movement, Armenian Orthodox (returning). -- Michel Pharaon, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Independent aligned with the Lebanon First bloc, Greek Catholic (new): Pharaon obtained a B.A in economics and administration from St. Joseph University, followed by a diploma in economics and administration from Dauphin University in France in 1981. He is the head of the Libano-Swiss Insurance Group and was first elected to parliament in 1996. He has been an MP since that time and has previously served twice as minister of state for parliamentary affairs. -- Mohammad Naji Rahhal, Minister of Environment, Future Movement, Sunni (new): Rahhal obtained a law degree from the Lebanese University in 2004. He is a social activist who currently heads the Lebanon for All NGO, in addition to participating in the Arab Youth Union and Nahar al-Shabab. He organized the Future Movement electoral campaign in the West Biqa' in 2009. -- Mohammad Safadi, Minister of Economy and Trade, Independent aligned with the Lebanon First bloc, Sunni (returning) -- Salim el Sayegh, Minister of Social Affairs, Kataeb, Maronite (new): El Sayegh obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Paris in 1992. He has been a professor at the University of South Paris since 1993 and is also director of its Conflict Resolution Center. He has been vice president of Kataeb since 2008. -- Akram Shehayyeb, Minister of the Displaced, Progressive Socialist Party, Druze (new): Shehayyeb obtained a degree in literature from the Arab University of Beirut and a master's degree in history from Cairo University in 1982. He was first elected to parliament in 1991 and has continued there since. He previously served as environment minister and is a close confidant of PSP leader Walid Jumblatt. -- Salim Aziz Wardeh, Minister of Culture, Independent aligned with the Lebanese Forces, Greek Catholic (new): Wardeh holds a B.A. in business administration and is the founder of the Wardeh vineyard. He is active in a number of professional associations. Wardeh's appointment is significant because he is from Zahleh, a key electoral battleground whose political leaders have complained of neglect by Hariri since the June 2009 elections. MINISTERS DESIGNATED BY PRESIDENT SLEIMAN (5 MINISTERS) -------------- -------------- -- Ziad Baroud, Minister of Interior, Independent, Maronite (returning) -- Adnan al-Kassar, Minister of State, Independent, Sunni (new): Al-Kassar obtained a law degree from St. Joseph University in 1951. He is the president of the Arab Chamber of Commerce and head of the Lebanese Economic Association. He established Fransabank and previously served as minister of economy. -- Elias Murr, Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister, Independent, Greek Orthodox (returning). -- Adnan as-Sayyed Hussein, Minister of State without Portfolio, Shia (new): Hussein obtained a doctorate in political science in 1989 and is currently a professor at the Lebanese University. He also serves as a professor at the Lebanese Armed Forces command college. Hussein is viewed as a consensus Shia candidate who could provide a de facto blocking vote for the opposition. -- Mona Ofeish, Minister of State without Portfolio, Independent, Greek Orthodox (new): Ofeish obtained a law degree from St. Joseph University. She has served as the president of the Association of Lebanese Universities since ¶2004. Ofeish is known as a civil society activist involved in NGOs related to women and children's rights. MINISTERS DESIGNATED BY THE OPPOSITION (10 MINISTERS) -------------- -------------- -- Fady Elias Abi Abboud, Minister of Tourism, Independent aligned with the Free Patriotic Movement, Maronite (new): Abboud obtained an economic degree from Westminster University in London. He is the president of plastics producer General Packaging Industries, chairman of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists and an active member in the Lebanese-American Chamber of Commerce. The outspoken Abboud is known to be close to the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP). -- Ali Hussein Abdallah, Minister of Youth and Sports, Amal, Shia (new): Abdallah studied medicine in Algeria and surgery in France. He previously served as minister of tourism. -- Gebran Bassil, Minister of Energy and Water, Free Patriotic Movement, Maronite (Minister of Telecoms in previous cabinet) -- Ibraham Dedeyan, Minister of Industry, Tashnaq, Armenian Orthodox (new): Dedeyan obtained a B.A. in civil engineering from the American University of Beirut in 1961. He previously served as an MP from 1996-2000 and is the owner of the Dedeyan construction company since 1993. -- Mohammad Fneish, Minister of State for Administrative Reform, Hizballah, Shia (Minister of Environment in previous cabinet) -- Hussein al-Hajj Hassan, Minister of Agriculture, Hizballah, Shia (new): Hassan obtained a B.A. in chemistry from the Lebanese University in 1981, a masters in physical chemistry from the University of Strasbourg in 1984, and a doctorate in chemistry and physics from the University of Orleans in 1987. He is a professor at the Lebanese University and has been the head of the Islamic Association for Education and Development since 1993. He has been an MP since 1996. -- Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh, Minister of Health, Amal, Shia (returning) -- Charbel Nahhas, Minister of Telecommunications, Independent aligned with the Change and Reform bloc, Greek Catholic (new): Nahhas studied engineering and planning in France before returning to teach at the Lebanese University for 12 years. He oversaw the reconstruction of Beirut from 1982-1986 and then switched to the banking sector. He currently is a consultant on economic issues. Nahhas is a respected economic thinker who co-drafted a five-year economic plan in 1998. He is viewed as a strategic thinker who generally supports the concept of privatization. -- Youssef Antoine Saadeh, Minister of State without Portfolio, Marada, Maronite (new): Saadeh obtained a B.A. in business administration from St. Joseph University in 1989. He is a long-time political advisor to Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh and headed Marada's recent electoral campaign. -- Ali Hussein el-Shami, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amal, Shia (new): El-Shami obtained a degree in political science from the Lebanese Universiy in 1970, followed by a diploma in political scence from the University of Grenoble in 1971 and doctorate in political science from there, as well, in ¶1978. He is a professor in the College of Law and Political Science at the Lebanese University. He has participated in many educational associations and is widely viewed as an accomplished professional. SISON