Govt. formation efforts intensify amid cautious optimism
Things are “going well” in the government formation efforts and are about to reach conclusion, informed sources have said.
“Each party has made a step backwards and things are awaiting Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil’s response to the PM-designate regarding the final format of the Cabinet line-up,” the sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.
The sources added that the new government will only be formed in “the last days of President Michel Aoun’s term,” noting that “some parties don’t want to give Aoun the chance to preside over any session for the new government, even its first session.”
The Progressive Socialist Party’s al-Anbaa news portal meanwhile reported that the formation file “has been put on the front burner with the tour of General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who is visiting the parties concerned with formation.”
“PM-designate Najib Mikati will not accept President Michel Aoun’s demand regarding the change of the six Christian ministers, and this demand is what has been obstructing formation until the moment,” al-Anbaa quoted sources as saying.
“The issue of the Strong Lebanon bloc granting confidence to the government should it be formed is also being discussed,” the sources added.
Ex-MP Roger Azar, who met with Aoun on Tuesday, for his part told al-Anbaa that the President is optimistic that a government can be formed in the foreseeable future.
“The contacts became more serious over the past 48 hours and there are serious efforts regarding formation,” Azar added, noting that he sees in Aoun’s positivity indications that the government will be formed and an intention to resolve the current obstacles.
Sources close to Hezbollah who are closely following up on the formation process meanwhile told al-Markazia news agency that “the president’s camp is waiting to receive PM-designate Najib Mikati’s response on Wednesday regarding the proposal presented to him, which calls for reinstalling his government while changing six ministers – a Maronite, a Greek Orthodox, a Greek Catholic, a Sunni, a Shiite and a Druze.”
“Mikati is insisting on preserving political balance and not granting a one-third-plus-one veto power to any political group,” the sources said.
“The fate of the formation, be it positive or negative, will be decided in light of this endeavor. Either Mikati will form his fourth government or his third will keep acting in caretaker capacity,” the sources added.
The sources also noted that “should formation take place, its decrees must be issued and the government must win confidence before the night of Oct. 20-21, after which parliament enters the last ten days of the presidential tenure and turns exclusively into a voting body that has no right to legislate nor to convene to grant confidence.”
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