Berri: Don't Push Me to Tell Who is Obstructing Cabinet Line-Up
Speaker Nabih Berri said he knows the “secret” behind the delay in the cabinet formation but prefers not to be “provoked” into disclosing it to the public, al-Joumhouria daily reported Saturday.
“I know where the problem is, and I know the secret behind the obstructions. Don't provoke us to make us announce it frankly and publicly,” sources close to Berri quoted him as saying.
The sources pointed to some attempts aiming to hold the AMAL Movement responsible for the cabinet delay, “some want to blame us, but they can't hold us responsible. We are not the problem. Things are clear on our part. Let them search for the solution somewhere else, it is in their own hands.”
Berri however said: “Everyone knows that President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and myself have agreed during our meeting at Babbada to form a cabinet of 30 minsters. We were not the ones who retracted, but they were.”
Aoun and Hariri are still struggling to put together a new cabinet amid conflicting demands from the political forces that are seeking to join the unity government.
The formation process made major progress on Monday and Tuesday after the political parties reached a settlement over the thorny issue of the public works portfolio. Under the settlement, the Marada Movement will be given the public works portfolio while the Lebanese Forces will get the health portfolio.
But horsetrading resumed when it was agreed to form a 30-member cabinet instead of 24, where the disagreement lingers on the additional six state ministers and their distribution on the political parties.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/222258 |