Caretaker Government Can Only Hold Cabinet Sessions in Case of Emergencies; New Bets on Regional Movement to Help Formation
State Minister Khaled Qabbani said Sunday a council of ministers session was "out of the question" unless in case of emergency or an extraordinary event, as confrontational political tones subsided and as the country awaits the return from Saudi Arabia of the premier-designate to resume deliberations.
The Lebanese An Nahar newspaper reported that behind "the scenes contacts with diplomatic Arab channels over the past two days have caused speculation there is a serious bet on a joint Saudi-Syrian movement that will bring results in the near future."
The paper reported that the Saudi Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja visited Damascus recently in addition to Beirut.
For its part, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat quoted opposition sources as saying that "obstacles to the government formation are caused by internal factors rather than external, contrary to what majority forces believe." They said pro-government forces were trying to "present a delay in the formation and Hizbullah”s solidarity with MP Michel Aoun as caused by external factors."
Meanwhile, majority members and some Arab sources said that Syria "is waiting for more sides to intervene to ask for its help in pressuring its allies to facilitate the premier-designate”s mission."