Aoun, Hariri May End Maronite-Sunni Seat Swap as Solution to Crisis
The political parties are mulling a swap of Maronite and Sunnis seats between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri as an exit from the government formation deadlock, media reports said.
Under the proposal, Aoun would give up the Sunni seat in his share in return for Hariri's giving up of the Maronite seat that is part of his share, informed sources told Kuwait al-Anbaa newspaper in remarks published Sunday.
“This would raise Aoun's Maronite seats to two instead of one and Hariri would recover the Sunni seat that he had given to Aoun, raising the number of his Sunni seats to five out of six. This would give the sixth Sunni seat to Hizbullah, which would save everyone from embarrassment,” the sources said.
“In this case, Hizbullah would guarantee the appointment of Faisal Karami, whose nomination has been rejected by Aoun, while Hariri would lose the seat of Ghattas Khoury, his favorite adviser,” the sources added.
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 pro-Hizbullah 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.
Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil is meanwhile trying to convince the rival parties to accept a settlement based on naming a “consensus” Sunni minister.
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