Nationwide Uproar over 'Political Nonentities" of Karami's Government

Beirut, Updated 27 Oct 04, 09:28

Naharnet

Lebanon's new government, the first under President Lahoud's extended regime, got a hostile welcome from the four corners of the political spectrum Wednesday with dismayed loyalists expressing shock over the low caliber of most cabinet members and heavyweight opposition leaders deploring score-settling provocation. "Extension Government: Second Class, Disillusion and Provocation" roared an 8-column headline across An Nahar's front-page Wednesday morning. The newspaper noted that Beirut, the capital and the nation's biggest population center, was not represented in the 30-member cabinet under Premier Omar Karami. "The cooks of the new government have tried to lessen its gloom by bringing in two women. Yet it remains within the course that has extended a disabled regime, produced a crisis with the international community and maintained subjugation to Syrian hegemony," commented An Nahar. "The challenges are way beyond the new government's coping ability." "Government of Only Available ... Laced by 2 Ladies," exclaimed As Safir's page-one banner-line. The leftist daily noted that naming two women in the new cabinet was the only sterling accomplishment of the new prime minister, which ended nearly seven post-independence decades of total male domination. Perhaps the most eloquent description of the caliber of Karami's cabinet was Al Anwar's headline, which screamed "People Wondering about Hitherto Unheard of Political Non-Entities Making Up New Government." The new prime minister was obviously anticipating the public uproar of the poor lineup of the cabinet when he told reporters after the decrees were announced on Tuesday: "This is the best I could come up with. I can't bring down people from the moon." The new government took its formal photograph with President Lahoud at the Baabda palace at mid-morning Wednesday and then convened in its first meeting in Beirut to select a committee to write the policy statement that will be presented to Parliament for a vote of confidence later in the week.

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