New Cabinet Formation at Impasse as Salam Rejects Granting Blocking Third to Any Side

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam lashed out on Thursday at Speaker Nabih Berri's criticism over the representation of centrists in the government.

“Salam will not back down... He will not grant the blocking third to any party,” Salam's visitors said in comments to An Nahar newspaper.

The visitors wondered how Salam was tasked with forming the new cabinet if he wasn't a centrist.

They quoted Salam as saying: “Granting the veto power to any side will be used as a weapon of obstruction not more.”

The visitors told the newspaper that Berri is waging a “preemptive campaign” before the Lebanese would have to accept the formation of a de-facto government if the efforts exerted by Salam failed to reach common ground over a consensual cabinet.

On Wednesday, Berri criticized those who began classifying themselves as centrists while they are “clearly affiliated in the March 14 alliance.”

He wondered how several senior officials take firm stances against a certain team then categorize themselves as centrists.

Salam is seeking to form what he called a “cabinet of national interest” that comprises no MP hopefuls.

Meanwhile, the March 14 alliance have been calling for a neutral cabinet, while the March 8 camp has demanded a “political government” and centrist Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat has stressed that his bloc will not grant its vote of confidence to a “one-sided cabinet.”