Cabinet Discussions Reportedly Make Progress as FPM Dismisses Atmosphere of Optimism

President Michel Suleiman rejected over the weekend a draft cabinet lineup proposed by Premier-designate Najib Miqati but media reports said Tuesday that discussions have made progress and are now centered on the distribution of portfolios and names of candidates.

Suleiman had remarks on the lineup that Miqati proposed to him on Saturday night during a meeting held at Baabda palace away from the media spotlight, As Safir daily said Tuesday.

But the newspaper quoted Free Patriotic Movement leadership sources as saying that a preliminary agreement has now been reached with Miqati to form a 30-member cabinet in which FPM leader Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc would get 10 Christian ministers. But the sources added that Aoun continues to hold onto his demand for the interior ministry portfolio.

They stressed that it was no longer acceptable to target the Christian representation inside the government. Christians should get their rights to have a balance of power, the sources said.

Caretaker Minister Jebran Bassil, who is an FPM official, warned in remarks to As Safir that his party won’t accept any government lineup that goes against its beliefs. “Those who think that the shakeups in the region would make us accept any cabinet are mistaken.”

“The more complicated the situation becomes, the more we would insist on forming a solid government that is capable of facing challenges,” he said.

Despite the report that the cabinet was still facing the obstacle of the controversial interior ministry portfolio, a source from the March 8 forces told An Nahar newspaper that “the cabinet formation has made a big progress.”

Miqati met separately Monday with caretaker Minister Ghazi Aridi representing Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, caretaker Economy Minister Mohammad Safadi, and MP Ali Hassan Khalil, a political aide to Speaker Nabih Berri.

An Nahar quoted Miqati’s circles as saying that the prime minister-designate is satisfied with the progress of the ongoing contacts, signaling that a deal is imminent on the formation of a “pro-active homogeneous cabinet according to constitutional rules.”

The sources reiterated that Miqati prefers to take his time in forming a cabinet that “preserves political life and is based on constitutional norms” rather than rushing the formation of an “unstable cabinet that overthrows the constitution and lacks the elements of coherence.”