The premier-designate has been careful stay away from "political rivalries" since he started his mission to form a national coalition government, Saad Hariri”s press office said Monday in reaction to MP Michel Aoun”s earlier statements.
"Since the moment he was designated premier, Saad Hariri has worked to form a national coalition government away from media and political rivalries," the office said in a statement.
"As such Hariri insists that the jurisdictions of the premier-designate are clearly stated by the Lebanese Constitution and he did not, at any point in time, breach or will breach the Constitution or exceed those jurisdictions," it added.
Hariri, the statement said, "believes that while each political team has the right to present its demands, the cabinet shape-up is the responsibility of the premier-designate in cooperation with the president of the republic."
It said that Hariri has been conducting deliberations to form a government "based on the parliamentary elections outcome that ushered a parliamentary majority."
"That majority, along with Speaker Nabih Berri”s bloc and the Tashnag, nominated the premier-designate to form a government according to the constitution," it added.
"No one has the right to try to cripple the record tourism season with media and political rivalries that are futile and have no purpose but to poison the air and the lives of the Lebanese," the statement concluded.