Lebanon gets new government led by Saad Hariri: statement

Yahoo – AFP, December 18, 2016

Lebanon's new Prime Minister Saad Hariri speaks to journalists following his
 nomination at the presidential palace in Baabda, near Beirut, on November 3,
2016 (AFP Photo/ANWAR AMRO)

Beirut (AFP) - Lebanon acquired a new 30-minister government Sunday led by Saad Hariri, bringing together the entire political spectrum except for the Christian Phalangist party that rejected the portfolio it was offered.

"This is a government of entente," Hariri said of the new line-up formed six weeks after the election of President Michel Aoun.

New portfolios include an anti-corruption post and, for the first time, a minister of state for women's affairs.

Hariri said the Phalangist party had been offered a minister of state post but had turned it down.

The new government will have "at the top of its list of priorities to preserve security against the fires ravaging our region," Hariri told reporters.

He stressed that the government would act to "preserve our country from the negative consequences of the Syrian crisis".

On November 3, former premier Hariri was nominated to form Lebanon's next government, but the process was seen as likely to be hampered by deep differences with the powerful Hezbollah movement.

Hariri, 46, is anti-Syria and a fierce opponent of Lebanon's influential Shiite Hezbollah, members of which have been accused by an international court of involvement in his father's 2005 assassination.

But he was forced to throw his support behind Aoun, their candidate for the presidency, in order to secure his return to power as premier.

Hariri's government will have two ministers from Hezbollah.

His nomination and Aoun's election after a two-year vacuum have raised hopes that Lebanon can begin tackling challenges including a stagnant economy, a moribund political class and the influx of more than a million Syrian refugees.

Hariri also announced the establishment of a state secretariat for refugees, and called on the international community "to take responsibility for helping our country bear the burden".

Lebanon is due to hold parliamentary elections in May 2017, the first legislative vote in eight years.

The current parliament -- elected in 2009 -- has extended its own mandate twice amid fierce disagreements over revamping Lebanon's electoral law.

"The government will also work on the preparation of a new electoral law," Hariri said on Sunday.

The thorny issue divides religious parties and communities in a country where politics is based on parity between Christians and Muslims.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."