Report: Berri Worried about Failed Govt Talks

Talks on a government line-up failed between President Michel Aoun and PM-designate which made Speaker Nabih Berri “worried” as the country sinks deeper into economic crisis, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

The daily said the atmospheres in Ain el-Tineh reflected “unease” after the two leaders failed on Monday to break months of deadlock and agree on a much-needed government to start its rescue mission and steer the country out the crisis.

Berri emphasized the need to form a government “as quickly as possible because Lebanon is in a race with time,” according to the daily. He believes that every minute wasted instead of placing the country on the track to salvation only pushes the country deeper into the abyss.

Despite public outrage and international pressure to form a government so as to enact reforms needed to unlock aid pledges, wrangling over cabinet posts persists in Lebanon seven months after the outgoing government resigned in the wake of a devastating explosion in Beirut, widely blamed on official negligence.

The failure on Monday to agree a cabinet line-up crushed hopes for a breakthrough, with public barbs exchanged between Aoun and Hariri raising fears of a total impasse. No new meeting has been announced.