The new dispute over Bassil’s leaked video has dominated the recent news, especially that, as of last evening, the crisis has entered a new chapter following the refusal of Berri to consider the statement issued by the President to turn the page. This is also the case with the statement issued by The Free Patriotic Movement.
If Berri considers that the statement is not enough, while for the Free Patriotic Movement it is sufficient and the matter is over, then the scope of solutions has closed until further notice, while unanswered questions dominate the whole political atmosphere: Has Lebanon entered into an open national crisis? What is the effect of this crisis on both the parliament and the government? Is this crisis going to get resolved the same way as the decree of promotions without affecting the government’s work? Would it affect the elections? What about the first government after the elections? What are the repercussions of such escalating hate speech through media on the national stability?
There are no signs of breakthroughs in this crisis, except if the Free Patriotic Movement considered Berri’s apology to the Lebanese, as an initiative worthy of meeting him halfway, otherwise, it’s difficult to predict the results of the crisis.
It’s a common agreement that no one wants to tamper with security or undermine stability, but what about political stability and institutional order, especially since it’s in no one’s interest to paralyze the institution.
In all cases, and no matter what the circumstances are, the elections are happening on time.