Alain Aoun: Hariri Must Admit March 8 Has Right to Get Additional Minister

MP Alain Aoun of the Strong Lebanon bloc has called for resolving the current government deadlock through a solution based on having “no victors and no losers.”

“The obstacle today is that Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri must admit that the representation of the March 8 camp has grown bigger and that it has the right to get an additional minister. The (March 8) camp must also contribute to the solution by naming a minister who would represent a solution to the crisis. If this theory is not implemented, we will stay where we are,” Aoun warned in a TV interview.

“The Shiite duo cannot be bypassed in the formation process after they voiced support for the independent Consultative Gathering,” the MP noted.

He added: “If we put aside March 8's mistake of delaying the announcement of its representation demands and the delay in the formation of the Consultative Gathering, the March 8 camp has grown bigger and it has the right to get an additional minister.”

The government was on the verge of formation on October 29 after the Lebanese Forces accepted the portfolios that were assigned to it but a last-minute hurdle over the representation of pro-Hizbullah Sunni MPs surfaced.

Hizbullah has insisted that the six Sunni MPs should be given a seat in the government, refraining from providing Hariri with the names of its own ministers in a bid to press him.

Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil is meanwhile trying to convince the rival parties to accept a settlement based on naming a “consensus” Sunni minister.