During much of the Syrian military presence in Lebanon in the 1990s, the so-called “troika” of President Elias Hrawi, Speaker Nabih Berri and the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri dominated the political scene.

The appointment of people close to them, and other political factions, in the state bureaucracy was a common practice, and generated many complaints by opposition politicians.

While the “classic” troika situation ended with the 1998 election of Emile Lahoud as president, the policy of making appointments based on politicians’ shares of the spoils didn’t disappear. And in the wake of Hariri’s 2005 assassination, long periods of government paralysis have resulted, meaning a huge backlog in bureaucratic appointments that must be made to see fully-fledged civil servants serving in state posts.

The 2008 election of General Michel Sleiman as president has provided an opportunity to end the policy of making appointments based on individual shares of politicians, but the old troika has been replaced by a similar system based on partisanship, sectarianism and the logic of power, ministerial sources told The Daily Star.

The sources noted the uphill battle to change the practice, so that competence, merit and integrity govern the process of state appointments. While being loyal to one’s political faction is an understandable part of the game, sectarianism is another problem – but since it is enshrined by the Taif Constitution, little can be done for now.

As for the logic of power, the sources said that political groups wielding military force are not the only problem, since partisan media are regularly used to ramp up rhetoric, in a bid by politicians to obtain the largest share of state posts.

The sources said this new “troika” dominates the work of the current government, despite the attempts by Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati to end the power-sharing mentality on behalf of some Cabinet members.

In the meantime, the Cabinet crisis, which erupted Wednesday over the thorny issue of civil service appointments, is likely to drag on for weeks following the failure of a bid to reconcile Mikati and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun over the issue, a political source said Friday.

The source said Mikati would not resign or sulk while fresh efforts were made to defuse the tension among allies inside the government.

Mikati abruptly ended a government session over sharp differences with ministers from Aoun’s bloc over appointments in the public administration Wednesday. The heated argument broke out after Aoun’s ministers objected to Sleiman proposing candidates for the post of the head of the Higher Disciplinary Committee and the government representative at this committee. The two posts are affiliated with the prime minister’s office. In the wake of the heated debate, Sleiman suspended the session at Mikati’s request.

Meanwhile, a source close to Baabda Palace criticized the “intransigence” of some parties on vital issues such as civil service appointments. The source said that from now on Sleiman would only sign decrees that help improve the Cabinet’s productivity and that serve the interests of the public.

Describing the relationship between Sleiman and Mikati as excellent, the source said that the March 8 groups in the government have no interest in bringing down the Cabinet as long as internal and external conditions do not permit such a power vacuum. “The threats to resign are part of the democratic game because the departure of the Cabinet is governed by more than internal considerations,” the source said.

With regard to administrative appointments, the sources rejected the blackmail used by a political party to get its share of these appointments. The sources said Sleiman remains convinced that the optimal exit from the impasse is to amend the Constitution, so that only a simple majority is needed for bureaucratic appointments, instead of the current, two-thirds requirement.