Status Quo

From 1967, the Palestinians began to expand their armed presence in Lebanon. With the signing of the 1969 Cairo Agreement, which granted Palestinian guerillas the freedom to operate in Arqoub, the Palestinian armed struggle became much more pronounced. This, coupled with the entry of thousands of gunmen into Lebanon after the failed coup in Jordan in 1970, led to an exacerbation of the political disputes between the PM and the President of the Republic, precisely over the Palestinian operations in Lebanon.

On April 10, 1973, thirty Israeli Mossad agents landed on Lebanese shores and then drove in cars toward Verdun, where they murdered three of the highest-level PLO officials: Abou Youssef Najjar, Kamal Nasser and Kamal Adwan, along with 9 other Palestinians. 2 Lebanese security personnel were also killed and 9 other civilians were injured. News of the operation did not reach the then Army Commander, General Iskandar Ghanem, until 1:50 am, at which time the agents were already at sea, sailing back to Israel.

Initially, security organizations mistook the 40-minute operation for clashes among rival Palestinian parties. The incident drove several Muslim leaders to hold the Christian-backed Lebanese Army accountable for the violation. Subsequently, since defusing the growing tension among Muslims seemed far from possible, the PM, Saeb Salam urged President Suleiman Frangieh to dismiss the Army Commander or else, he would tender his resignation.

On the President’s refusal to make the Army Commander a scapegoat, PM Saeb Salam put his words into action and resigned the premiership on April 10, 1973.

Appointment of Amin Al-Hafez

Disappointed at the President’s unwavering support for the Army and its commander, former premiers and prominent Sunni dignitaries, including Saeb Salam, Rasheed Karami and Abdallah Yafi refused to assist the President in forming a cabinet unless he took earnest measures to appease those Muslim sectors angry at the army’s failure to protect Palestinians.

Faced with this Muslim intransigence, President Frangieh urged his supporters in Parliament to grant him full liberty to nominate the next premier during parliamentary consultations, which became binding only after the Taef Accord. The President was vacillating between two candidates: Amin Al-Hafez, the representative of Tripoli, and Suleiman Ali, the representative of Akkar. The choice fell on the former, for he had run under the list of Rasheed Karami in 1972.

Post-formation

The government took shape on April 25, 1973. Amin Al-Hafez himself enjoyed modest popularity among the Sunni community but his agreement to chair the government triggered a wave of large-scale protests especially because the two Sunni ministers, Bahij Tabbara and Zakariya Nsouli, were equally disagreeable to the general public.

Attempts of mediation by Grand Mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled to persuade Al-Hafez to resign were unsuccessful. Yet, with the mounting pressures, Al-Hafez had to finally declare his resignation on May 8, but retracted it upon the request of President Frangieh and efforts began to guarantee a majority in Parliament sufficient to pass a vote of confidence.

Voting session

Since the general session of Parliament usually ends on May 31st, an exceptional session, specifically for the vote of confidence, was scheduled for Thursday, June 12. President Frangieh ensured the attendance of 63 members, thus thwarting the attempts of Al-Hafez’s opponents to prevent the needed quorum of 51. 32 members boycotted the session and 4 others could not attend because of travel difficulties. More noteworthy was the absence of the two Sunni ministers, Bahij Tabbara and Zakariya Nsouli and the boycott by 16 Sunni deputies out of 20. The minimal Sunni attendance drove Amin Al-Hafez to adjourn the session saying:

“We have come here today to discuss the ministerial statement and read it to the esteemed chamber of deputies in the hope of obtaining confidence. In the morning, we were taken aback by the absence of two ministers, which led me to urge the adjourning of the session, out of keen support for the principle of participation.”

The session was adjourned at 12:00 pm, one hour and 45 minutes after its opening.

Against the backdrop of increasing Muslim pressures, the two Sunni ministers were persuaded to tender their resignations the next day. In turn, Amin Al-Hafez submitted his resignation to President Frangieh on July 14. The latter approved it on July 16 and requested Al-Hafez to assume caretaker responsibilities until the formation of a new government, which emerged under the premiership of Takieddine Al-Solh on July 18, 1973.

The government of Amin Al-Hafez was thus nipped in the bud without having had the opportunity to solicit the confidence of the legislature, which would have been guaranteed had it not been for the zeal of Al-Hafez’ keenness to respect the “sectarian sanctity”.

Government line-up

The government consisted of 17 ministers from different sectarian backgrounds:

• Amin Al-Hafez (Sunni): Prime Minister and acting Minister of Information and Public Health.
• Gouad Ghosn (Greek Orthodox): Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense.
• Bashir Al-Awar (Sunni): Minister of the Interior
• Kathem Khalil (Shia’a): Minister of Justice
• Joseph Skaff (Greek Catholic): Minister of Electrical and Hydraulic Resources
• Khatchiq Babakian (Armenian Orthodox): Minister of General Planning
• Najib Alameddine (Druze): Minister of Public Works and Transport
• Khalil Abou Hamad(Greek Catholic): Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants
• Fouad Naffaa (Maronite): Minister of Finance
• Michel Sassine (Greek Orthodox): Minister of Housing and Cooperatives
• Edmont Rizk (Maronite): Minister of National Education and Fine Arts
• Tony Frangieh (Maronite): Minister of Post, Telegraph and Telephone
• Emille Rouhana Sakr (Maronite ): Minister of Labor and Social Affairs
• Fahmi Chahine (Shia’a): Minister of Agriculture
• Ali Al-Khalil (Shia’a): Minister of Tourism
• Bahij Tabbara (Sunni): Minister of Economy and Commerce
• Zakariya Nsouli (Sunni): Minister of Industry and Oil