Opposition”s Insistence on Skaff Hinders Final Cabinet Agreement
According to the daily Sada al-Balad on Sunday, the parliamentary minority”s continued insistence on placing current Agriculture Minister Elias Skaff in the next cabinet is hindering the final agreement of a new Lebanese cabinet.
The daily An-Nahar on Sunday quoted informed sources saying, the parliamentary opposition and in particular Hizbullah did not respond to a proposal by PM-designate Saad Hariri of 15 seats to the parliamentary majority- 10 to the opposition and 5 cabinet seats to president Michel Suleiman.
One of the ministers proposed by Hariri is Talal al-Miqdad (Shiite from Jbeil), according to An-Nahar.
The daily Ad-Diyar quoted informed sources saying there are no serious developments in forming the next cabinet adding that Hariri”s discussions are now focusing on portfolios and names.
The paper added that following the meeting between the PM-designate and Hizbullah representative Hajj Hussein Khalil, an agreement was reached in providing the Public Works portfolio to the Lebanese Forces, Justice to Samir al-Jisr (al-Mustaqbal Movement) in return the Foreign Affairs and Defense are given to the Shiite coalition, the Free Patriotic Movement Finance and two other service portfolios.