Report: Controversy over Cabinet ‘Quotas' of President, Premier

As political parties wrangle to allocate ministerial seats in the new government, controversy persists on whether the President and Prime Minister should have shares in the Cabinet separate from the shares allocated to their blocs.

In that regard, head of the parliamentary Independent Center bloc Najib Miqati stressed the need to “abide by the Constitution,” saying “norms” should not be created from scratch and consecrated, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.

Bloc sources told the daily: “Everybody must facilitate the PM-designate mission. Norms overstepping the Constitution must not be created because this will pave way for counter demands.”

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri said early this week that the premier should, like the President, have a ministerial share separate from the one allocated to his bloc.

For his part, MP-elect Abdulrahim Mrad told the daily that demanding quotas for President and PM will definitely affect the government formation process.

“In principles, no shares must be allocated to them. There are no constitutional provisions in that regard nor did the Taef Accord mention it,” said Mrad to the daily.

MP-elect Farid al-Khazen, member of the National Bloc also stressed that no article in the Constitution mentions anything about shares for head of state or premier.

He said: “Lining up Cabinets is usually subject to national circumstances which was reiterated by President Michel Aoun himself on several occasions.”

The Kataeb party however were surprised at the “debates lingering” in light of the country’s political, economic and social crises.

“The government must focus on solutions for these crises instead of focusing on quotas and distribution of portfolios,” a Kataeb source told the daily.