Reports: Hariri May Present 18-Minister Line-Up despite Objections
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri will submit to President Michel Aoun during his visit to Baabda on Wednesday a draft cabinet line-up based on an 18-minister format “unless some side intervenes to restore communication between the presidency” and Hariri, al-Jadeed TV said on Monday.
“There is no serious and real communication over the issue of government, contrary to what the presidency’s statement tried to reflect, and according to some reports, thing have returned to square one,” al-Jadeed added.
The Free Patriotic Movement meanwhile considers that Wednesday’s meeting will be “decisive” as to whether the government will be “formed or obstructed,” the TV network reported.
MP Qassem Hashem of Speaker Nabih Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc meanwhile told al-Jadeed that the government was supposed be formed in the beginning of this week.
“But complications surfaced after no agreement was reached over the number of ministers in the government. Some said that happened after President Aoun’s meeting with (FPM chief Jebran) Bassil, who proposed the idea of enlarging the government to represent allies, especially (Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal) Arslan,” Hashem added.
Resigned MP Marwan Hamadeh for his part told al-Jadeed that the disputed second Druze seat is “a Trojan horse aimed at securing a one-third veto power for the FPM and Jebran Bassil through a Druze minister.”
According to media reports, Hariri is insisting on an 18-minister cabinet containing one Druze minister while Bassil and Arslan have called for a 20-seat government in order to represent the latter’s party with a second Druze minister.
Source: Naharnet
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