Report: Aoun Insisting on 'Blocking Third' as Advisers Exchange Drafts
President Michel Aoun’s insistence on obtaining a so-called blocking one-third in the new cabinet is what’s delaying its formation, a prominent parliamentary source said.
Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is meanwhile “showing utmost flexibility and positiveness to pull the formation process out of its crisis,” the source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday.
“The disagreement is not over the distribution of ministerial portfolios to sects and the naming of ministers, but rather over the fact that Aoun is fabricating one problem after another to guarantee the continuity of his political heritage through his heir -- Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil,” the source charged.
The source added that the President is seeking “to secure 10 ministerial seats for Bassil and even 11, which is facing opposition from Miqati, who refuses to give the blocking one-third to any camp even in a veiled way.”
“The current weekend did not carry anything new, except for the continued exchange of drafts between the advisers” of Aoun and Miqati, the source went on to say, noting that Miqati might step down unless the coming week witnesses “tangible steps” by Aoun.
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