Suleiman-Aoun Meeting Soon Could Facilitate Cabinet Line-Up
President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun have reportedly agreed to hold a meeting soon that would likely lead to the formation of a new cabinet.
Aoun”s Orange television, which carried the report late Sunday, did not say when the two leaders would meet.
The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, however, said the meeting is likely to take place on Monday.
Orange TV said the agreement to hold the bilateral talks came during a telephone contact between Suleiman and Aoun on Sunday.
Suleiman made a surprise visit to his hometown of Amsheet on Sunday, three weeks after his election as President.
A crowd of villagers from Amsheet and nearby towns rushed to welcome Suleiman.
MP Walid Khoury of Aoun”s Change and Reform parliamentary bloc was also there to meet the President.
Khoury said Suleiman and Aoun were "regularly" contacting each other "in an effort to overcome the obstacles facing the formation of the new government."
In response to a question, Khoury stressed that Aoun was "the first to suggest Suleiman”s name as a consensus President."
News reports on Monday said similar contacts took place on Sunday between Prime Minister-designate Fouad Saniora and Aoun.
They said the delay in the formation of the new government revolves around the conditions set by Aoun.
Aoun said on Saturday that giving Suleiman two key cabinet posts entitles him to pick a Muslim candidate for one ministry and a Christian nominee for the other.
"When the President is being (given control over the allocation) of two sovereign portfolios, then one (post) should go to the Christians and the other to the Muslims," Aoun said.
This was interpreted as an indirect attempt to prevent caretaker Defense Minister Elias Murr from keeping his post.
Murr, meanwhile, was reportedly tipped by Suleiman for defense minister.
The opposition, however, appeared to be against Murr”s appointment to any of the four key ministries.