We Want 13 Portfolios, including Interior Ministry
Interim Telecoms Minister Jebran Bassil said Thursday the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc wanted 13 ministers in the new government, including the interior minister portfolio.
"Thirteen ministers is our real share. This is proportional representation," Bassil said in an interview with al-Ousbou al-Arabi magazine and The Magazine.
The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) is asking for the interior ministry portfolio in order to "place its hand on the security services, which must not be factional," Bassil said.
He said his nomination as a minister in the new government "was not a topic of discussion, but a final decision is up to General Michel Aoun."
The young minister underlined the need for the presidency not "to play circumstantial and seasonal roles but to acquire a fixed role in the Constitution."
"The presidency is a constitutional position that we can bolster by strengthening its constitutional privileges," he added.
On demands for veto power, Bassil said: "The FPM wants guarantees: to prevent the naturalization (of Palestinians in Lebanon), to participate in decision-making and to allow the return of effective Christian participation in the Lebanese administration."
"We want guarantees for our role and we can only acquire them by our participation on the inside, through the constitution," he added.
Bassil said: "We showed the president, on many occasions, that we want to support him, but he also must stand by everyone."