New Cabinet”s Fate in the Hand of Majority-Opposition Decision on its Shape
Conditions and demands by both majority and opposition are threatening to make cabinet formation more difficult after the nomination of a new PM following two-days of consultations that the president will kick off with parliamentary blocs Tuesday.
Majority sources told An Nahar newspaper that MP Saad Hariri is still in the process of consulting with his bloc and allies to decide on the premiership.
Sources close to Hariri also told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that the Mustaqbal movement leader is still mulling whether to accept a new nomination.
Beirut media expected 86 lawmakers, including Speaker Nabih Berri”s parliamentary bloc, to rename Hariri as premier. It added, however, that the "formation before appointment" concept has become an obsession for officials who are trying to avoid another failure.
A source close to Hariri said the MP”s decision to bow out as PM-designate means an end to previous agreements among the country”s different political parties. "It is now important to discuss about new foundations," the source told As Safir.
Al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat also promised there will "now be a new start," and warned to Asharq al-Awsat that the country requires a majority cabinet if the situation remains as it is.
"The opposition toppled the previous cabinet formula. We should now start from square one," he said.
Hizbullah”s al-Manar TV, on the other hand, quoted the party”s deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem as saying that the agreed upon 15-10-5 cabinet formula should be preserved.
It said that if Hariri was appointed again, he had two choices: Either form a single-faceted cabinet and lead the country to paralysis or form a national unity government with the opposition because solution is only reached through dialogue and agreement.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun accused Hariri on Friday "for wanting to waste time" in the interest of "foreign parties."
"I personally do not nominate a premier who hasn”t talked to me," Aoun said. He also defended his son-in-law Caretaker Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil who worked on ending "corruption at the ministry."