Formation Progress Ruled Out amid Efforts to Convene Caretaker Cabinet

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No positive development is expected in the government formation process in the near future, media reports said.

Ruling out that Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri would present a format different than the one he submitted to President Michel Aoun three weeks ago, sources following up on the negotiations said "there are no indications of a meeting between them in the few coming days."

In remarks to al-Hayat daily published Sunday, the sources also denied reports claiming that the Lebanese Forces has backed down from its demand to get four ministerial portfolios that include the deputy premier post.

The sources also said the Progressive Socialist Party is still insisting on getting all three Druze seats and that the two parties “have expressed major reservations over the type of portfolios that the President is suggesting for them.”

Senior LF sources meanwhile told al-Hayat that after Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement rejected the latest formula, the party "will not accept any solution that does not respect the popular support it received in the parliamentary elections, which stands for getting five ministers."

The sources also revealed that LF leader Samir Geagea has told Hariri that the caretaker Cabinet should convene to take "important decisions and facilitate the work of institutions, akin to the necessary legislation session that the parliament has held."

"In the coming days, this will be the subject of contacts that would involve Aoun, (Speaker Nabih) Berri and all parties," the sources added.

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