Cabinet Formation Awaits Comprehensive Deal on Lineup

The formation of the new government is still awaiting major agreement on the entire line-up despite a preliminary consensus on retired Internal Security Forces Maj. Gen. Marwan Charbel to lead the interior ministry, Baabda palace sources said.

President Michel Suleiman’s visitors told An Nahar newspaper in remarks published Thursday that all sides have a serious intention to end the cabinet deadlock but warned that consultations are carried out to reach agreement on the entire lineup, which means that any snag could further delay the formation of the cabinet.

The report came as al-Liwaa daily said that Najib Miqati and caretaker Minister Jebran Bassil bickered on Wednesday after the premier-designate asked him and the aides of the speaker and the Hizbullah leader, respectively MP Ali Hassan Khalil and Hussein Khalil, to nominate three people for each portfolio led by their own blocs so that Miqati could choose among them.

But Bassil objected saying the political parties should only nominate one person for each portfolio. Either Ali Hassan Khalil or Hussein Khalil also blamed Miqati for not abiding by a decision previously reached between them.

The meeting between the four men that started at 6:00 pm lasted three hours, As Safir said.

While Baabda palace sources told the newspapers that major progress was reached on the level of consultations to form the cabinet, Suleiman linked his agreement on the name of Charbel to the entire lineup and preserved himself the constitutional right to have the final say on it “so that the formation of the government does not take several months.”