Parties Trade Blame for Cabinet Line-Up Delay

The political parties are trading blame over who is responsible for the ongoing delay in the cabinet formation process, a media report said on Sunday.

“As March 8 sources are pinning the blame on the Free Patriotic Movement for nominating ex-minister Salim Jreissati and FPM politburo member Yaaqoub al-Sarraf – who were rejected by the premier-designate -- and for refusing to consider Minister Michel Pharaon as part of the Lebanese Forces' share, sources following up on the formation process have noted that these points are not obstacles and are not the core of the problem,” An Nahar daily said.

“The problem is March 8's insistence on the 30-minister cabinet and its demand that the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, the Baath Party and MP Talal Arslan be represented in return for accepting the representation of the Kataeb Party in the government,” the newspaper added.

Quoting unnamed sources, An Nahar said PM-designate Saad Hariri is expected to return to the 24-minister format to avoid the obstacles arising from the demand to form a 30-member cabinet.

Hariri believes that a 30-minister government would show a weak performance and inability to deal with the pressing issues, especially the parliamentary elections, the newspaper added.