The session as a whole could have been avoided, and it exposed numerous shortcomings that cannot be fully enumerated. All of this is highly significant in light of the current reality and offers the Lebanese state grounds on which to build at several levels. These are elements Salam can capitalize on at the United Nations, whose workings he knows well, to rally as much support as possible above all for himself. He was adept and statesmanlike in both of his speeches, rising above political mudslinging as well as for his government and the course it has adopted. These are not minor points that can simply be overlooked given what Lebanon is facing at home, even though the move to seek a vote of confidence in the government was bound to fail from the outset for domestic reasons, foremost among them the absence of any factors capable of altering the political balance that had originally led to the government’s formation. Any change affecting the government, therefore, would not produce a different balance of power. There is also the possibility of plunging the country into a governmental crisis it can ill afford at this sensitive stage. As a result, efforts by some parties to seek a change of government, amid objections or reservations over the performance of some of its ministers, will now be put on hold indefinitely.
