Report: Shatah Assassination to Speed up Government Formation Efforts
The assassination of former Finance Minister Mohammed Shatah is likely to speed up efforts to form a new government, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.
Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's sources told the daily that Salam recent meeting with President Michel Suleiman stressed the need to form a new cabinet soon.
The new government will likely focus on tackling security affairs, said the daily.
It is no longer acceptable to keep Lebanon without a government for so long given the deteriorating security situation, remarked Salam's sources.
The lack of cabinet will be exploited by forces seeking to carry out terrorist attacks in Lebanon, they warned.
Efforts to form a new government are nearing their end and all attempts to find common ground between the rival political parties have failed, said the sources without disclosing the details of a possible new cabinet lineup.
It has become pressing to form a government that addresses the people's concerns, they continued.
Suleiman's sources meanwhile told Asharq al-Awsat that it is time to form a new cabinet.
Shatah was killed in a major car bombing in downtown Beirut on Friday morning.
Since his appointment in April, Salam has failed to form a new government due to the conditions and counter-conditions being placed by the rival March 8 and 14 camps.
Suleiman has been pushing the formation of a new cabinet that would be capable of staging the presidential elections.
His term ends in May 2014 amid fears that the disputes between the rival parties will lead to the failure to hold the elections to elect his successor.
The March 14 camp has rejected including Hizbullah in a new government, while the March 8 camp has warned against the establishment of a “de facto” cabinet, instead calling for one that includes all sides.
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