Report: New govt. unlikely, FPM to boycott cabinet sessions after Oct. 31

No progress has been made regarding the formation of a new government, local media reports said, despite the intensified efforts of Hezbollah and General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.

Al-Akhbar newspaper reported Friday that the efforts have almost hit a dead end and that President Michel Aoun and the FPM are planning to take different steps to prevent the caretaker government from taking the powers of the President, once Aoun's term ends.

The FPM ministers will boycott all cabinet session after October 31, the daily said, claiming that there are more steps, like Aoun's signing of a decree that accepts the resignation of Mikati's government.

A political source has also told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that communication has been totally cut off between Aoun and Mikati, and that FPM chief Jebran Bassil is now trying to impose his conditions with threats of chaos, while Hezbollah is pressing to form a new government or keep the current one in order to avoid vacuum and chaos.