Report: Efforts to Form New Govt. to Gain Steam after Resolving Elections Dispute

Efforts to form a new government have reached a dead-end given the tense local and regional developments, reported the daily An Nahar Friday.

President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri's efforts have not yielded any results, while al-Joumhouria newspaper Friday said that these efforts will gain steam as soon as the disputes over the extension of parliament's term and holding the elections are resolved.

“Suleiman and Berri are uncertain over the direction of affairs in Lebanon given the complications on the political scene,” added An Nahar.

“Given this confusion, the leanings of the new government seem lost between one that is keen to stage the elections and another aimed at tackling the country's affairs,” said sources monitoring efforts to form a new cabinet.

Premier-designate Tammam Salam, who held talks with Suleiman on Thursday, has repeatedly said that he is seeking the formation of a government capable of staging the parliamentary elections that are set for June 16.

The political powers' dispute over a parliamentary electoral law however is threatening the postponement of the polls.

This has raised fears that parliament's term will be extended in order to avoid a political vacuum.

The duration of the extension is set to create further divisions between the rival powers.

The deadlock has not deterred Suleiman from maintaining his efforts to form a new cabinet as he held separate talks on Thursday with head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora, Berri's envoy caretaker Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and his envoy caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour.