Bassil Presents Solution Initiative to Berri and Hariri
Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil has proposed an initiative to overcome the so-called Sunni hurdle that is delaying the formation of the new government, media reports said.
Bassil presented the initiative in his talks with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Monday, al-Joumhouria daily said.
“It involves an exit that calls for naming the sixth Sunni minister from those labeled as centrist Sunnis instead of him being from the (pro-Hizbullah) six Sunni MPs or provocative to the PM-designate,” the newspaper added.
“It is likely that the sixth Sunni minister will be the one whom Hariri has exchanged with the President for a Christian minister, in order to keep Hariri’s share intact,” al-Joumhouria said.
Hariri is scheduled to hold a press conference on the latest developments at 3:00 pm Tuesday.
The government was on the verge of formation on October 29 after the Lebanese Forces accepted the portfolios that were assigned to it but a last-minute hurdle over the representation of the aforementioned Sunni MPs surfaced.
Hizbullah has insisted that the six Sunni MPs should be given a seat in the government, refraining from providing Hariri with the names of its own ministers in a bid to press him.
Aoun -- a Hizbullah ally -- threw his support behind Hariri and rejected the demand during a TV interview, noting that the aforementioned MPs are “individuals and not a bloc.”
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah later announced that his party would accept any solution that the six Sunni MPs would accept but the lawmakers have so far remained defiant.
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