Tug Of War

Meet the two most important ministers in this government

To say that the Minister of Labor and the Minister of Culture are the two most important ministers in this historic cabinet might sound like a stretch to a lot of you. But Trad Hmedeh and Tarek Mitri are no ordinary ministers, they are two very important “key-figures” in this cabinet.

Tarek Mitri, an intellectual with an impressive CV, is important because of his independence. President Lahhoud, Hezbollah and Amal have together 7 out of 24 ministers, which is one short of the “subversive third” that can vote against government bills. Theoretically speaking, both parties could cajole or threaten Mr Mitri into joining their side.

Trad Hmedeh, a University teacher and a prolific writer, is the Hezbollah Link to the American Government. A US spokesperson told Annahar this morning that while the US Government is going to boycott minister Fneish from Hezbollah, it doesn’t mind talking to other ministers who are not officially in Hezbollah but who have links to them. In other words, Mr. Hmedeh could prove very useful for both Hezbollah and for the US government.

Keep your eyes on these two, for they could be both the battlefields and the peace table at the same time