Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s decision to suspend Cabinet sessions came in reaction to the Free Patriotic Movement ministers’ policy of blackmail, but his decision will only reinforce the crisis in the country. Lebanon faces challenges inherited from successive Cabinets, as well as external pressures, including the situation in Syria. The latest example of this is fighting that broke out between the Tripoli neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, a conflict linked to events in Damascus.

Presidential sources said that President Michel Sleiman is feeling considerable bitterness for the first time toward the stances of those in the Cabinet, particularly those ministers who consider his suggestions that the Constitution be amended as motivated by self-interest.

Sources renewed their condemnation of the bartering used by the Cabinet group that claims to support reform and change even though its ministries have not improved services for the people. The sources said that political life in Lebanon has never witnessed such disregard for public office, including that of the president.

According to sources, an agreement was made between the president and Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai during a lunch held in the president’s honor following Mar Maroun Mass. The two agreed on a number of issues, including the importance of developing legislation that would forbid the use of verbal abuse in public statements and require that officials follow the etiquette of public discourse. The sources added that Rai finds in the attacks against the president an expression of contempt for the Constitution, which protects the office of the president, and the patriarch considers that disrespectful language used toward the president as a violation of the Constitution.

Other sources said that political groups were discussing the need to replace the current Cabinet with one dominated by technocrats who could prevent the country from being pulled into the region’s crises, as both the current and previous Cabinets have failed to take advantage of relative stability and security in the country to develop effective political and economic policies.

The sources attributed this failure to the destructive politics inside the Cabinet and the divisions of its members on all issues connected to the region, the latest of which is the Syrian crisis.

For example, state officials maintain that they wish to adopt a policy of disassociation for Syria, as they consider that Lebanon interfering in Syrian affairs would only have dangerous repercussions but some Cabinet members have not followed this policy and are ready to tackle the issue head-on.

The sources recalled the success of the technocratic experiment during Mikati’s first government in 2005, which achieved much despite only lasting a few months.

The sources said that many support reviving this style of Cabinet, which would include academic and civil society officials who would put forward drastic solutions to confront the problems plaguing Lebanon, while political leaders engage in National Dialogue and discuss developing a strategic defense policy.