No Breakthroughs in Cabinet Formation and White Smoke Delayed!
No breakthroughs occurred yet given that Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Aoun”s demand to appoint his son-in-law Jebran Bassil and to get a key portfolio have not been met, while President Michel Suleiman and PM-designate Saad Hariri agreed on ruling out appointment of deposited candidates in the elections.
Well-informed sources expressed "fears about the continuous political bickering that might complicate Cabinet formation," said An Nahar newspaper; a statement echoed on the other hand by presidential sources to As Safir daily "ruling out the rise of white smoke, at least for this week."
An Nahar”s sources said "the ongoing consultations will mainly concentrate on the Christian representation as being the major hindrance to finalize any agreement on the distribution of ministerial portfolios."
While the same sources confirmed that the portfolios of the Democratic Gathering, headed by MP Walid Jumblat have been almost designated as to keep the Public Works Ministry, in addition to appointing 2 more ministers, one of them as State Minister.
On the other hand, sources closely linked to Hariri told As Safir that the latter considers that "the completion of Cabinet lineup task lies in the Opposition”s hands," given that he has done "everything to accelerate the Cabinet formation, hence, the approval of 15-10-5 formula in order to reassure the Opposition and in particular Hizbullah."
The sources added that it was "the utmost" of what Hariri could offer. Opposition sources responded that "the Cabinet lineup process is rather residing in the other party”s hands" reiterating that "the current situation ought not require the ongoing delay."
In parallel, a leading official in the Opposition told As Safir "no obstacles were hampering the Cabinet formation and matters were flowing smoothly before Hariri”s trip" wondering "what is delaying it until now?"
As for the Opposition forces, they reconfirmed unanimously that "any political party represented in the government has the right to freely nominate its ministers" and reiterated their full support to Aoun”s nomination of Bassil within the Maronites” share in the government."
Speaker Nabih Berri, delegated on Thursday his political aide, MP Hassan Khalil to meet with President Suleiman. Hariri met two days ago with Hizbullah Secretary General”s political aide, Hussein al-Khalil.