Salam: Parties that Backed Parliament Extension Can Facilitate Cabinet Formation

Premier-designate Tammam Salam has said there was no longer an excuse for the postponement of the cabinet formation, adding the parties that agreed on the extension of parliament's mandate could also reach consensus on the government.

In remarks published in pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday, Salam said “there are no longer excuses, the country needs a government more than ever.”

“The same political parties that reached an agreement on the extension could also reach a deal on the speedy formation of the cabinet,” he told the newspaper.

The parliament extended its tenure on Friday for 17 months after the failure of the rival parties to agree on a new electoral law. The extension law was published in the official Gazette on Saturday.

But President Michel Suleiman submitted a challenge to the Constitutional Council.

Despite the postponement of the parliamentary elections following the extension of the legislature's mandate, Salam insists that he would go ahead with forming his “government of national interest.”

Some March 8 alliance parties and Hizbullah officials have said in the past few days that there is now a growing need for a government made up of political figures after the postponement of the polls.

Salam had said that his government's main purpose would be to supervise the polls, which compelled him to give portfolios to non-provocative figures who were not running in the elections.

The PM-designate stressed that he stuck to his previous decision given that the new government would have to resolve major problems during a short period. Its term ends with the election of a new president in May next year.