Report: Hariri’s New Govt. Formula Considered a ‘Failure’

A government formula proposed by PM-designate Saad Hariri to President Michel Aoun on Monday has failed to accomplish the needed results and was reportedly pronounced “stillborn”, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

“It is striking that Hariri’s government draft was delivered stillborn,” a senior political source told the daily.

“It only survived for a few minutes during the deliberations between the two men. The meeting ended and they agreed to continue consultations,” added the source on condition of anonymity.

After his long-anticipated meeting with Aoun in Baabda on Monday, Hariri said he presented a format for "a national unity government" that does not entail a "victory" for a political camp over another.

Hariri also noted that he took the demands of all parties into consideration while emphasizing that only him and Aoun possess the format's exact details.

Well-informed sources told al-Joumhouria that in his statement to reporters after the meeting, Hariri has tried to “adorn the draft, hinting that the ball is in the court of the President which may have prompted a statement from the President's’ office considering the draft as “initial” and not final.”

Aoun’s media office had said on Twitter following the talks: “The President has received a initial version of the new government, and he made some observations based on the principles and criteria he had set for the form of government which is required to fall in the interest of Lebanon.”

According to said reports, Aoun’s reply is a “masked” rejection of the format which “has brought things back to square one.”

Hariri was tasked with forming a new government on May 24, but his mission has since been delayed because of wrangling between political parties, mainly over the Christian and Druze representation.