Qatar Steps In, Aoun Apparently Biggest Obstacle
Qatar has reportedly stepped in to try to achieve a breakthrough in a dispute over the make-up of the new cabinet as Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun appeared to be the biggest obstacle in government formation.
The daily As Safir, citing Lebanese sources, said Wednesday that a Qatari official was likely to visit Beirut within the coming days after four days of talks failed to produce an agreement on the government line-up.
The newspaper said the Qatari decision came following a telephone contact made by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri with Qatar”s Prime Minister Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr al-Thani.
As Safir said Berri informed Sheik Hamad of the "need to exert pressure in order to reactivate dialogue channels."
Meanwhile, the pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat quoted sources as saying that Aoun was the biggest obstacle to an agreement on government formation.
The sources said Aoun”s clinging to the finance ministry post as well as his insistence on getting other ministries, particularly the health, were the "main obstacles" slowing the announcement of a new government.
The Central News Agency also quoted sources from the majority March 14 coalition as saying that one of the main obstacle to the government make-up was differences among the opposition itself.
They said the problem was that both Aoun and Berri were fighting for the health ministry.
Another complication was that Aoun is also demanding five out of eight ministries to be shared by the opposition.
Press reports said Prime Minister Fouad Saniora visited the presidential Palace in suburban Baabda late Tuesday evening where he held talks with President Michel Suleiman on the cabinet line-up.
Saniora, however, played down reports that there were difficulties in the government formation, saying he was "following up on the process … which is progressing bit by bit."
"The goal is clear and we are conducting necessary steps in keeping with our responsibilities," Saniora told reporters.
"We are on the right track and it is only natural that a government be assembled gradually," Saniora said, adding that "patience and wisdom are required for this mission."