Center House, Ain el-Tineh Optimistic on Govt. despite Emergent Hurdles

Despite the hurdles that emerged over the past few days in the cabinet formation process, Center House and Ain el-Tineh sources have expressed optimism that the new government might be formed within a few days.

In remarks to the al-Anbaa news portal of the Progressive Socialist Party, the Center House sources expected things to “return to their normal course in the next 48 hours” following an expected meeting between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.

Ain el-Tineh sources meanwhile noted in remarks to al-Anbaa that “the formation of cabinets in Lebanon usually goes through difficult complications in light of the complexity of the Lebanese political structure.”

The sources, however, said they are still optimistic that the government might be formed in the next two days unless a sudden developments arises. They also stressed that the formation of the cabinet should not be linked to the U.S. presidential election, because “betting on that would put Lebanon on the course of a long crisis.”

According to media reports, the obstacles that emerged over the past days are linked to the number of ministers, the rotation of portfolios and the distribution of sovereign and service-related portfolios.

Sources informed on the negotiations told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that there are ongoing discussions over portfolios such as health and public works.

“The formation of the government will need several more days after previous expectations that it would be formed early next week,” the sources said.