March 8 Sunni MPs Rule Out Govt. Formation if Demand Not Met

The Consultative Gathering, a newly-formed bloc of six Hizbullah-backed Sunni MPs, has ruled out an imminent government formation if its demand to get a cabinet seat is not fulfilled.

Quoting informed sources, al-Liwaa newspaper said the MPs “have not yet received any phone call or information about the solutions that are being prepared.”

“But in the face of the leaked information about candidates other than those proposed by them, they have decided to reiterate their stance that rejects any candidate other than the nine nominees presented by them at the beginning of the negotiations,” the sources added, identifying the nine candidates as the six members of the Consultative Gathering in addition to Othman al-Majzoub, Hassan Mrad and Sheikh Taha Naji.

“The will not accept any other name and they will not accept a sixth Sunni minister who would not be part of the Gathering’s share and who would not attend its meetings or abide by its decisions,” the sources went on to say.

Consultative Gathering member MP Al-Waleed Sukkariyeh meanwhile ruled out “an imminent cabinet formation should the parties maintain their current stances.”

“The minister who will represent the Consultative Gathering should be independent and not part of the share of the President or any other party,” Sukkariyeh stressed in remarks to al-Liwaa.

And noting that “refloating the name of Jawad Adra is out of the question,” the MP said the Gathering is ready to “present new names to represent it on the condition that they are proposed by it.”