Aoun in Wait-and-See Approach on Hariri”s Cabinet Proposal
Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun has said he will have an appropriate stance after PM-designate Saad Hariri shows "what he”s got in his pocket."
"He is the premier-designate not me," Aoun told As Safir newspaper in remarks published Wednesday adding he will give his point of view after examining Hariri”s approach to cabinet formation.
Hariri”s first priority should be to find a way out of the cabinet crisis, the MP said.
He told As Safir that he doesn”t know what the intentions of Hariri are and how the Mustaqbal movement leader will deal with government formation. Aoun added that he heard some demands to drop the 15-10-5 formula or a national unity cabinet.
Aoun said he was cautious about the 15-10-5 formula. "I don”t want to adopt a stance or make certain assessments before time. We have to see first what Hariri has in his pocket. Then we will have the appropriate stance."
Asked if he believed that regional and internal circumstances were ripe for Lebanese cabinet formation, Aoun said there were problems in the region which require formation of a national unity government to safeguard the interior.
About a technocrat cabinet, the FPM leader told As Safir such a government "doesn”t have enough elements to face internal and external challenges" while any decision would be more effective if taken by a unity cabinet.