Report: President ‘Criticism’ of Premier’s Formation Policy ‘Annoys’ Hariri

With the ongoing stalemate delaying the government formation, things have started to take a “negative turn,” especially over the "divergence" in opinion between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri over the the approach adopted in addressing the issue, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat reported on Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, remarks made by the President “criticizing” Hariri's performance have “tensed out the political atmospheres.” Sources close to the Premier have reflected his “dismay,” said the daily.

Free Patriotic Movement sources said that Aoun (FPM founder) “is annoyed by the delay in the government formation,” reportedly saying that Hariri “is not making enough initiatives as required to resolve the obstacles,” hinting at his “bias to the demands of some parties, while ignoring others.”

The sources who spoke of condition of anonymity, added “the Christian obstacle has two sides, the Lebanese Forces and the FPM, but Hariri has held talks with the first party without doing the same with the second side.”

Turning to the Druze obstacle between Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and MP Talal Arslan, they said that Hariri has “met with Jumblat but not Arslan. Plus, he refuses to discuss the allocation of a Cabinet share for the Sunni opposition.”

“These remarks did not go unnoticed among the prime minister’s sources,” said the newspaper, “the Premier expressed his dissatisfaction with Aoun’s remarks” stressing at the same time that the task of forming the government is “limited to him alone as Premier.”