Report: Last-minute Cabinet Proposal Faces Several Obstacles

A 24-member cabinet line-up was set to be announced before President Michel Suleiman's trip to New York on Sunday but several obstacles prevented the formation of the new cabinet, As Safir daily reported.

According to the newspaper published Saturday, Premier-designate Tammam Salam proposed to give eight ministers to the March 8 alliance – four Shiites and four Christians.

The line-up was also based on giving the March 14 coalition another eight ministers divided as follows: Three Sunnis and five Christians.

As for the centrist camp, President Michel Suleiman would get three ministers (a Maronite, an Orthodox and a Shiite), Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat would have two Druze and one Christian, while Salam himself would be represented in the government by a Sunni minister.

The proposal also included naming Mohammed al-Mashnouq (a Sunni) to be within the share of both Salam and the March 14 alliance, and allowing Suleiman to name Naji al-Bustani (a Maronite) as part of a share with March 8, As Safir said.

Jumblat was the most enthusiastic with this line-up but Suleiman insisted not to share with any side any of the three cabinet ministers he is entitled to, the newspaper said.

Another obstacle lied in Speaker Nabih Berri's insistence to name as a first step along with Hizbullah the ministers who are part of their share in the cabinet, it said.

It quoted him as saying that Suleiman and Salam should assume their responsibilities, warning them that any minor mistake would take the country to the unknown.

“It would be better to keep the vacuum then taking the country towards a bigger crisis,” Berri, who is also the head of the Amal movement which is part of the March 8 alliance, said.