PSP Seeks to End Cabinet Standstill, Ease Tension among Political Foes
Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour stressed on Friday that the Progressive Socialist Party is seeking to avert the ongoing cabinet crisis and end the rift among the rival political parties.
“We are seeking to ease tension and end disputes” among the political foes, Abou Faour said in comments published in al-Liwaa newspaper.
He pointed out that head of the PSP MP Walid Jumblat aims at “safeguarding the reached settlement concerning Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's cabinet lineup.
The caretaker minister stressed that contacts are ongoing to reach common grounds over the distribution of ministerial portfolios.
Salam, a 67-year-old moderate, was appointed in April two weeks after the resignation of Premier Najib Miqati.
However, Salam has been facing a difficulty in forming his cabinet over Free Patriotic Movemnet MP Michel Aoun's unswerving stance to retain the energy and telecommunications ministries and his rejection to adopt the concept of rotating ministerial portfolios.
On Thursday, Abou Faour held talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.
According to An Nahar newspaper, Abou Faour tackled with the Patriarch the latest developments regarding the cabinet formation process.
He also hailed the Bkirki Treaty that focused on preserving Lebanon's coexistence and national pact.
“The treaty depict the conscience of all the Lebanese and their desire to build a state, coexist and have stability and civil peace,” al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted Abou Faour as saying.
Al-Rahi had unveiled on Wednesday a treaty that calls for holding the presidential elections on time.
It also demanded that political powers adhere to the country's national pact and place national interests above personal ones.
An Nahar daily also reported that Abou Faour, who is Jumblat's delegate, held separate talks with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Salam.
The newspaper reported that he discussed with the officials means to reactivate the political agreement to form a new cabinet and any repercussions imposed by the formation of a political de-facto government if the attempts of forming an all-embracing cabinet failed.
Al-Liwaa daily reported that Abou Faour also tackled the matter with March 8 official and Marada movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh.
The nomination of the PM-designate, which was expected to help ease a political crisis that has gripped Lebanon since the conflict in Syria erupted, reached a standstill after a 10-month negotiations with the rival parties over his cabinet's lineup.
Aoun slammed Salam's endeavors on Tuesday, accusing him of impeding the cabinet formation process by insisting on the rotation of ministerial portfolios.
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