Why Hezbollah, Amal want to control Lebanon's Finance Ministry
The ministry's strategic role in financial decision-making and postwar reconstruction has intensified political disputes, with opposition groups and international actors resisting Hezbollah's dominance.
BEIRUT — As tensions between Israel and Lebanon continue along the border under a fragile ceasefire, political disputes over the Finance Ministry add to Lebanon's internal turmoil and the ongoing failure to form a government.
Following army Gen. Joseph Aoun's election as Lebanon's president on Jan. 9 — ending a more than two-year presidential vacuum — opposition MPs nominated former International Court of Justice President Nawaf Salam as prime minister-designate on Jan. 13.
Salam accepted the nomination with the goal of forming a government focused on reforms, attracting foreign investment and reducing sectarian entrenchment.
However, this has sparked a political standoff over control of the Finance Ministry, with Hezbollah and Amal insisting on retaining the ministry, which they have held since 2014.
