FPM MP Expects New Govt. in 'Next Few Hours'

The general atmosphere is “positive” and the new government is supposed to be formed in the “next few hours,” a Free Patriotic Movement lawmaker said on Monday.

“To us, there are no longer obstacles that prevent the government’s formation and most hurdles have been resolved,” MP Eddie Maalouf told al-Jadeed TV, noting that “it is not true that the positive atmosphere is fake.”

Denying that President Michel Aoun and the FPM have been seeking a so-called blocking one-third share, Maalouf said political rivals had “invented that to refrain from forming the government.”

Maalouf added that FPM chief Jebran Bassil has not engaged in any government formation negotiations, denying media reports about an expected visit by a Hizbullah delegation to Bassil.

The lawmaker also said that the FPM-led Strong Lebanon bloc will decide whether or not to grant the government its confidence “based on its program,” adding that his bloc “has many choices should the government not be formed, one of which would be resignation from parliament.”