Salam Meets Berri's Envoy, Reiterates Positions on New Government

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam held talks on Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri's envoy caretaker Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil on the government formation efforts in what the daily al-Joumhouria on Saturday said was a new round of consultations on the matter.

Salam's sources told the daily that Khalil did not offer any new cabinet lineup, while the premier-designate remained committed to his stances on the government.

Political sources highlighted to the daily An Nahar the significance of the hour-long meeting, noting that it was the first between the two sides since Berri announced his readiness to facilitate the formation efforts.

Khalil reiterated to Salam the speaker's proposal that the cabinet should be comprised of 24 ministers whose five Shiite members would be named by Hizbullah and the AMAL movement.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun would name the ministers of his choice for his own share.

For his part, Salam told An Nahar that he relayed to Berri his gratitude for his efforts, renewing his commitment to the guidelines he set for the new government, which includes his rejection of granting any bloc veto power.

He informed Salam that he does not oppose forming a political cabinet as long as it adheres to the rules he designated, reported An Nahar.

Meanwhile, Khalil told al-Joumhouria that he did not offer Salam any names of potential ministers and that the talks did not address the distribution of portfolios.

“How can names be proposed when an agreement over the distribution of shares has not been reached yet?” he asked.

Salam is seeking the formation of a 24-member cabinet in which the March 8, March 14 and the centrists camps would each get eight ministers.

The March 8 camp has meanwhile been demanding that it granted veto power in a new cabinet, which the premier-designate has repeatedly rejected.