Hariri Completes Vision for Cabinet Lineup as Opposition Threatens to Reject Offer
As Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri was poised to present a new Cabinet lineup in a bid to break the impasse on forming a national unity government, the Opposition hinted at rejecting the offer, particularly since the latest meeting between Hariri and Telecoms Minister Jebran Bassil did not produce any radical changes.
Press reports on Monday said Hariri will present his new government to President Michel Suleiman prior to his Sept. 23 trip to New York where he will take part in the U.N. Security Council meeting.
They said the Cabinet makeup is based on the already agreed upon 15-10-5 formula, taking into account the demands of the Opposition. It is aimed at pleasing the various political parties, but is likely to upset the Free Patriotic Movement headed by Gen. Michel Aoun.
The daily An-Nahar on Monday said Hariri again offered Bassil to give the FPM the education portfolio instead of the telecommunications ministry.
Hariri, on the other hand, received a clear indication that the Opposition is likely to reject any Cabinet deal that does not meet the full approval of its ally, Aoun.
Opposition sources told An-Nahar that the impression that has been formed is that Hariri is poised to offer a Cabinet lineup that includes names of FPM ministers such as Alan Aoun and Roy al-Hashem, but without giving Aoun the telecoms ministry or the foreign or energy portfolios. They also believe that Hariri intends to give Aoun”s Reform and Change bloc four seats instead of five, not all of them Maronites.
A high-ranking Opposition official quoted by As-Safir newspaper cautioned, however, that if Hariri”s new Cabinet lineup turned out to be uncoordinated with the other side, "then this means he would be driving the country deeper into the crisis, already more than two months into the stalemate."
Opposition sources hinted that Hariri”s move could leave Lebanon without a government.
They said the premier-designate measure was a "step backward" and warned that it could lead to a "major crisis" with the Opposition.