BEIRUT // The prime minister-designate Saad Hariri yesterday moved to end the three-month impasse over the formation of a national unity government, bypassing opposition demands for more influence and appealing directly to President Michel Suleiman to accept his proposal.
The move was immediately rejected by the opposition alliance, including Hizbollah, which said it would not allow its ministers to participate in the cabinet unless demands made by a key Christian opposition party were met.
Mr Hariri proposed a 30-person cabinet composed of 15 members of his majority alliance, 10 members of the Hizbollah-led opposition he defeated in June's elections, and five supporters of the president, who is considered a neutral figure.
The opposition had accepted that formula before consensus collapsed as Hizbollah's primary Christian ally, Michel Aoun, demanded his choice of ministries, including control of the critical and lucrative telecommunications ministry for his son-in-law.
As Mr Hariri's proposal does not offer Mr Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement that ministry among the five portfolios allocated to the party, the entire opposition is expected to reject participating in the cabinet, should Mr Suleiman accept the proposal, which was passed to him by Mr Hariri in a personal meeting at the presidential palace yesterday.
"[President] Suleiman informed me he would study the line-up that I presented to him to see whether he would sign the [cabinet] formation decree," Mr Hariri told reporters as he left the meeting.
Over the weekend, an official with Hizbollah told the local media that they would reject any proposal that did not satisfy Mr Aoun.
"The Shiite team [Hizbollah and Amal] didn't, and won't, hand over the premier-designate the list of suggested ministers as long as the PM-designate is not complying with Aoun's demands," a Hizbollah official told al Liwaa newspaper on Sunday.
In an interview with the opposition-friendly newspaper, al Safir, Jebran Bassil, Mr Aoun's son-in-law and choice to remain as telecommunications minister, slammed Mr Hariri after the two met on Sunday in an effort to quell their increasingly bitter and personal feud over Mr Hairi's refusal to give Mr Bassil a seat on the cabinet after he lost his seat in parliament in June.
Mr Hariri "is practising pressure in an attempt to impose terms of surrender and succumb to sectarian violence", Mr Bassil said. "This means that he wants to form a government by means of pressure and blackmail all the way to threats of civil war."
Although Mr Hariri has not threatened that violence would result from a continued stalemate, friends and enemies alike have repeatedly criticised him for showing inflexibility in Lebanon's notoriously difficult political arena, where enemies are regularly expected to find common ground to avoid major conflict.
But a close political ally of Mr Hariri's says that the incoming prime minister recognises that he cannot govern effectively without broad support from the opposition and thus does not expect that this direct move will result in a cabinet.
"The prime minister-designate will be very careful about the formation, and he will not work with a formation that is not accepted and approved by the president," said Moustafa Alloush, a member of Mr Hariri's Future Movement. "At the end, if the Jebran Bassil team keeps on being stubborn then the country will remain without a government."
According to local media reports, the cabinet proposed yesterday would turn control of the telecommunications ministry over to the Progressive Socialist Party of Walid Jumblatt, a nominal Hariri ally, while a right-wing Christian party, the Lebanese Forces, would take control of the energy ministry, another portfolio coveted by Mr Aoun and his supporters.
The alliance known as March 14, led by Mr Hariri with huge financial backing from Saudi Arabia, won the June 7 parliamentary elections over a coalition of Hizbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement and Nabih Berri's Amal Movement. But while efforts to appease the Shiite opposition were mostly successful, Mr Aoun has been steadfast in both his demands that Mr Bassil return to the telecoms ministry and that his party be granted five seats on the cabinet.
The infighting has frustrated even Mr Hariri's supporters, some of whom argued that if this latest move fails, that he should step aside. "Saad Hariri needs to take a move about the formation, and if he is unable, then it's about time for him to give this responsibility to someone else," said Sharif al Shams al Din, a cook, as he prepared hummus in a West Beirut restaurant.
"Honestly, I feel that he is not ready yet to take this responsibility," Mr Shams al Din continued. "He is too nice for the job. It seems as if he is lost between what Saudi Arabia wants him to do, and the local Lebanese politicians from March 14 demanding positions. The country and we the people of Lebanon cannot wait anymore."
mprothero@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
The Freedom Artist
By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
England's Ashes squad
Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
'Midnights'
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
World Cup League Two
Results
Oman beat Nepal by 18 runs
Oman beat United States by six wickets
Nepal beat United States by 35 runs
Oman beat Nepal by eight wickets
Fixtures
Tuesday, Oman v United States
Wednesday, Nepal v United States
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Other simple ideas for sushi rice dishes
Cheat’s nigiri
This is easier to make than sushi rolls. With damp hands, form the cooled rice into small tablet shapes. Place slices of fresh, raw salmon, mackerel or trout (or smoked salmon) lightly touched with wasabi, then press, wasabi side-down, onto the rice. Serve with soy sauce and pickled ginger.
Easy omurice
This fusion dish combines Asian fried rice with a western omelette. To make, fry cooked and cooled sushi rice with chopped vegetables such as carrot and onion and lashings of sweet-tangy ketchup, then wrap in a soft egg omelette.
Deconstructed sushi salad platter
This makes a great, fuss-free sharing meal. Arrange sushi rice on a platter or board, then fill the space with all your favourite sushi ingredients (edamame beans, cooked prawns or tuna, tempura veggies, pickled ginger and chilli tofu), with a dressing or dipping sauce on the side.
We Weren’t Supposed to Survive But We Did
We weren’t supposed to survive but we did.
We weren’t supposed to remember but we did.
We weren’t supposed to write but we did.
We weren’t supposed to fight but we did.
We weren’t supposed to organise but we did.
We weren’t supposed to rap but we did.
We weren’t supposed to find allies but we did.
We weren’t supposed to grow communities but we did.
We weren’t supposed to return but WE ARE.
Amira Sakalla
Company%20Profile
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Sleep Well Beast
The National
4AD
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 1:39:46.713
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 00:00.908
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 00:12.462
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 00:12.885
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 00:13.276
6. Fernando Alonso, McLaren 01:11.223
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 1 lap
8. Sergio Perez, Force India 1 lap
9. Esteban Ocon, Force India 1 lap
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren 1 lap
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll, Williams 1 lap
15. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber 2 laps
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber 2 laps
17r. Nico Huelkenberg, Renault 3 laps
r. Paul Di Resta, Williams 10 laps
r. Romain Grosjean, Haas 50 laps
r. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 70 laps
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 3
Sadio Man 28'
Andrew Robertson 34'
Diogo Jota 88'
Arsenal 1
Lacazette 25'
Man of the match
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)