Safa and Ibrahim meet with Bassil over government
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and Hezbollah coordination and liaison officer Wafiq Safa met Wednesday in Sin el-Fil with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, MTV reported.
“The meeting, which lasted around an hour and was followed by a several-minute meeting between Ibrahim and Safa, tackled the governmental file and the efforts aimed at forming a government prior to the end of President Michel Aoun’s term,” the TV network added.
“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,” sources had told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.
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.”
“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.”
Source: Naharnet
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