Report: March 8 Officials to Inform Salam about its Demands

March 8 alliance leaders are expected to hold a meeting on Tuesday to take their final stance from a set of principles outlined by the Premier-designate on the cabinet formation process.

An Nahar daily said that Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, who is a Free Patriotic Movement official, telephoned PM-designate Tammam Salam on Monday night to inform him that a March 8 delegation will be visiting him soon.

The newspaper said that the visit will be preceded by a meeting on Tuesday among high-ranking March 8 officials to agree on their final stance from proposals made by Salam.

It quoted sources as saying that the alliance has asked for veto power in the new government despite the denial of several of its members and has called for a 30-member cabinet in which the representation would be based on the parliamentary weight of each party.

Salam has announced that he wants to form a 24-member government with rotational portfolios. He has also rejected having electoral candidates in the executive authority whose only mission would be the supervision of the parliamentary elections.

But al-Liwaa newspaper has said that the alliance conditioned a share of 9 ministers if Salam insisted on the formation of a 24-member cabinet.

Hizbullah is also demanding that the rotation of portfolios be limited to the members of the alliance and is holding onto the three essential portfolios out of six, it said.