Berri-Hariri meeting ‘excellent,’ but no progress on cabinet
Aoun insists Bassil be awarded portfolio in cabinet
No progress was made with regard to the cabinet formation Wednesday as both Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri refrained from tackling the issue in the media following their meeting in Parliament. While Hariri described his talks with Berri as “excellent,” he refrained from answering questions from reporters about the share of Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt, who earlier in the month announced his departure from the March 14 Forces.
Berri also abstained from making statements concerning the government formation process. His visitors quoted him as saying that he would visit President Michel Sleiman “only when progress regarding the formation process arises.”
Berri and Sleiman hold weekly talks at the Baabda Palace Wednesday. Berri did not meet with the president this week.
“Nothing that happened necessitates my visit to Baabda Palace and I informed the president of my readiness to visit him when new developments occur,” Berri was quoted as saying.
The speaker’s visitors also quoted him as saying he had not heard of “any progress” on the level of the government. Berri also questioned the reasons behind the delay in the formation process given an agreement among Lebanese parties on the government structure, according to visitors.
Opposition leaders including Berri and Hizbullah had repeatedly expressed their support for the 15-10-5 cabinet’s formula agreed upon by the parliamentary majority and the opposition prior to Jumblatt’s withdrawal from the March 14.
The 15-10-5 make-up grants the majority 15 ministers, the opposition 10 and Sleiman five seats, which guarantees him the tipping vote while both March 14 and the opposition would be denied the absolute majority or veto power.
Following talks with Hariri Tuesday night, Jumblatt held talks in Clemenceau with a delegation from Hizbullah headed by Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad.
Jumblatt stressed that all groups have agreed to form a cabinet headed by Hariri, adding that the delay in the formation process was due to the “misinterpretation” of his recent stance.
On August 2, Jumblatt announced that his alliance with the March 14 coalition was driven out of necessity and must end; nevertheless the PSP leader had reiterated on several occasions his support to Hariri’s role as head of cabinet.
For his part, Raad called for speeding up the formation process while he stressed that no obstacles were hampering the formation of the government.
Meanwhile, the March 14 General Secretariat accused Wednesday Raad’s ally, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, of “blackmailing” the majority and the president to make “family” gains. The March 14 statement urged the opposition to “resolve Aoun’s issues rather than take cover behind his demands.”
“The real problem lies in the maneuvers of the head of the Change and Reform bloc to blackmail the majority and the president to achieve family gains,” the statement said, a reference to demands by Aoun to reappoint his son-in-law caretaker Telecommunication Minister Gebran Bassil for the post.
Several March 14 officials had expressed their refusal to appoint figures who ran as candidates in the June 7 elections and failed to win a seat in Parliament. Bassil who ran for one of two seats in his northern hometown Batroun, lost the elections to March 14 MP Boutros Harb and Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra.
The March 14 secretariat also denied that Hariri was reconsidering the agreed upon formula, adding that the political framework of the next cabinet was welcomed by all Lebanese parties.
“A consensus on the political basis to form a cabinet was reached a long time ago and no new developments call for the amendment of the agreed-upon shape, thus no reasons justify claims by the opposition that the premier-designate was reconsidering some calculations,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Aoun said Wednesday the Syrian-Saudi accord on the 15-10-5 formula was “not valid anymore,” adding that no other structures have been proposed to him by the Future Movement.
Tackling the nomination of Bassil for the next government, Aoun insisted Bassil be appointed and denied any responsibility in delaying the formation process, blaming it on March 14.
“The formation of cabinet is postponed and I insist on appointing Bassil because they challenged me,” Aoun said.
As for his relation with Jumblatt, Aoun said there was” willingness to meet; however matters needed to mature further.”