Pro-Aoun MP Says President Keen on Hariri, Settlement

President Michel Aoun is keen on the presidential settlement that led to his election and on Saad Hariri in the latter's capacity as Prime Minister-designate, an MP of the Strong Lebanon bloc has said.

“Aoun's announcement that he will only wait until the beginning of September for the formation of the government is aimed at urging PM-designate Saad Hariri to form the government and not at creating a problem or dispute with him,” MP Salim Aoun told Asharq al-Awsat daily in remarks published Thursday.

“The president and the Free Patriotic Movement are keen on the presidential settlement and on PM-designate Hariri, but we are also convinced that things cannot continue in the same manner with an open-ended timeframe,” Aoun added.

“This would exhaust the presidential tenure and the achievements that should be made,” the lawmaker explained.

He however added that his bloc is “confident that Hariri will not make us reach that stage because he also does not want it.”