Cabinet Lineup Collides Once Again with “Telecoms” Obstacle
The telecommunications ministry has emerged once again as a major obstacle to Cabinet formation in view of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun”s position that adheres to this key portfolio.
The daily As-Safir, however, said the deadlock was due to an "external obstacle," adding that the Syrian-Saudi summit was not enough to give the green light to form a Cabinet.
Aoun, according to An-Nahar newspaper, summed up his demands as follows: either the telecoms ministry or the interior or finance ministries.
It quoted high-ranking FPM sources as saying Aoun was not willing to give up his desire for these portfolios after having compromised on the six ministries he was demanding.
Aoun, the sources added, was likewise not willing to abandon a key ministerial portfolio – interior – in return for a key service ministry.
While As-Safir said Hariri was held onto the telecoms ministry, it said the premier-designate has informed several leaders who have examined his mood that he rejects the idea of granting the telecoms ministry to one of the ministers from President Michel Suleiman”s shares.
Opposition sources quoted by al-Liwaa daily had said that a French proposal suggested giving the telecoms portfolio to one of the ministers who fall within Suleiman”s share, provided that this person is accepted by both Hariri and Aoun.
Suleiman has been allotted five seats in the new government.
Pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, meanwhile, said the trend appeared to be toward giving the telecoms ministry to Suleiman”s Advisor for Strategic Affairs Adnan Assayyed Hussein.
Opposition circles were quoted Friday as saying that the Cabinet crisis was back to square one.
Daily Al-Hayat, however, was less pessimistic. It quoted sources as saying that Aoun”s adherence to the telecoms ministry "does not mean a decline in optimism, but shows progress is being made in negotiations regarding a Cabinet lineup."