Salam Awaits United March 8 Stance from Cabinet Make-up Proposal

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam has completed his separate talks with the parliamentary blocs of the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance but is waiting for their united stance on an offer to form a government in which the coalition would get seven ministers.

Local dailies said Saturday that the last meeting Salam held the day before was with Tashnag party MP Hagop Pakradounian.

During his separate talks with the different March 8 blocs, Salam made two proposals. First, the formation of a cabinet in which centrists would get nine seats, the March 14 alliance eight and another seven for March 8.

The second proposal is based on 10+7+7, the reports said.

But March 8 sources told An Nahar daily that the alliance would not accept the proposals. Giving seven seats to the alliance means Shiites would get four ministers and Christians only three which technically means that Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun would only have one representative, the same as Marada movement leader Suleiman Franjieh and the Tashnag, they said.

This source of contention was at the center of talks between Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri's aide, caretaker Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, on Friday night, al-Liwaa newspaper said.

Giving seven seats to the March 8 alliance requires consultations between its members to inform Salam about its united stance, al-Liwaa quoted Khalil as saying.

But the March 8 source that spoke to An Nahar stressed that the PM-designate's meetings were positive and he denied that he conditioned the formation of a non-political cabinet.

He reiterated that he prefers ministers who are not provocative figures and are not running in the parliamentary elections for a government specialized in supervising the polls.