Hariri Says His Nomination for PM 'Not a Favor from Anyone', French Initiative 'Still Alive'
Ex-PM Saad Hariri announced Thursday that his nomination for the PM post would not be a “favor from anyone,” noting that he has a major parliamentary bloc and known representation.
“There are three projects in the country -- that of Hizbullah and the Amal Movement which is linked to foreign forces, another that wants to pull Lebanon out of this crisis and works according to the ‘Lebanon first’ principle, and a third for overbidders who have brought the country to its current state,” Hariri said in a live interview on Lebanon’s MTV.
Noting that the the rotation of ministerial portfolios was Speaker Nabih Berri's idea during the formation of Tammam Salam's government, Hariri said the stances of Hizbullah and Amal were “escalated after the U.S. sanctions after the initial positivity towards the French initiative.”
“Does the finance portfolio deserve torpedoing the rescue initiative for halting the collapse and reconstructing Beirut? We agreed at the Pine Residence that the political parties would keep away from the government and that specialists would be named ministers for the rescue mission,” he added.
“The French initiative has not fallen and (French President Emmanuel) Macron spoke of a mistake that happened but he then said that Saad Hariri had made a brave initiative,” Hariri went on to say.
He also noted that Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Progressive Socialist Party head Walid Jumblat had rejected that he be nominated to form the new government, each for his own “agenda.”
Hariri also revealed that his latest phone call with Jumblat had been “stormy,” disclosing that the PSP leader asked him during the conversation to “accept granting the finance portfolio to the Shiite sect for good.”
Separately, the ex-PM said that the issue of border demarcation with Israel “moved forward due to the sanctions that were imposed on some parties.”
Source: Naharnet
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