Naharnet

Report: Aoun Rejects FPM, President Cabinet's Share Proposed by Hariri

President Michel has reportedly refused a Cabinet lineup draft allocating nine ministerial portfolios instead of ten as a joint share between the Free Patriotic Movement and the president, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

Well informed sources told the daily that “Aoun has substantial observations on the format presented by the Premier,” they said “he rejected Hariri's proposal regarding the share given to the president and the FPM which is divided between three portfolios for the President and six for the FPM.”

Aoun and the FPM demand ten ministerial seats in the new government, said the sources.

Although Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has submitted to Aoun on Monday a preliminary draft about the parties’s share in the new government, but consultations are still in progress and political parties are still wrangling over portfolios, media reports said.

The Lebanese Forces’ proposal to give shared ministerial portfolios between the Free Patriotic Movement and the president triggered a dispute between the two.

According to norms in Lebanon, the head of the State gets a specific share of ministerial portfolios. However, this complicated the distribution of political parties's share in light of the fact that Aoun is also founder of an allied bloc that gets a ministerial share separate from his.

Source: Naharnet


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