Ex-PMs from Center House: The Ball is in Aoun's Court

Prime minister-designate Saad Hariri held a meeting Tuesday evening with ex-PMs Fouad Saniora, Najib Miqati and Tammam Salam.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the conferees expressed “their regret and surprise at the actions and stances that violate the constitution and deviate from the usual framework, good manners, norms and principles followed in communications between presidents and in the formation of governments in Lebanon.”

They added that President Michel Aoun has infringed on “the provisions of the constitution, as if the intention is to embarrass the Prime Minister-designate to push him to resign.”

The conferees “reaffirm their adherence to the constitution and to the Taef Accord. Consequently, any attempt to take the issue to a sectarian level and reproduce the sectarian conflict is rejected in advance,” they said.

“On this basis, Prime Minister Hariri's adherence to the draft government lineup that he presented is not out of obstinacy, but rather as a response to what the Lebanese and Lebanon's friends in the world wan,” the conferees added.

“The Former Prime Ministers call on Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to persist in his firm national and constitutional stance,” they said.

Responding to a question, Saniora, who recited the statement, said ”the issue now is in the hands of His Excellency the President.”

“The ball is in his court and this matter is up to him,” he added.