Reports: Aoun May Accept Hariri's Line-Up despite Reservations

The draft cabinet line-up presented by PM-designate Saad Hariri to President Michel Aoun “cannot be rejected, because it takes balances into consideration and is in line with the French initiative,” al-Mustaqbal Movement sources said.

“There is no use from waiting for more than 24 hours, seeing as we need a mission-driven government now,” the sources added, in remarks to Annahar newspaper.

But sources informed on Baabda’s stance said Hariri “named a Sunni for the interior portfolio after it was agreed to give it to a Christian, a Maronite for the foreign portfolio after it was allotted to a Druze, and a Greek Orthodox for the defense portfolio after it was allocated to a Maronite.”

“These changes to the Christian posts and some Muslim posts were not in the previous distribution that had been agreed on,” the sources added.

“The President asked about the new names in the line-up, especially that he does not know any of them, and the PM-designate did not consult with the President, neither over names nor over the distribution of portfolios, although the constitution stipulates that formation should take place in consultation with the President,” the sources went on to say.

Commenting on the “18-hour deadline” that Hariri gave to Aoun to give feedback regarding his line-up, the sources said such a move “violates the constitution” and is a “dangerous and unacceptable precedent.”

The sources added that Hariri’s naming of “figures that the President had rejected in the first line-up reflect an intention not to facilitate the process… and to blame the President for the failure to form a government.”

The sources also revealed that Aoun told Hariri during Wednesday’s meeting that he needed “more time for consultations and to get to know the new candidates,” without promising him that he would give an answer on Thursday.

Asked whether Aoun might accept Hariri’s line-up in order to “embarrass” him, sources informed on the formation process meanwhile told al-Akhbar newspaper that “this is a possible option.”