The delay in lining up a cabinet as the result of wrangling over specific ministerial portfolios, raises fears about the fate of a new electoral law that is supposed to be agreed among political parties in order to hold the parliamentary elections slated for May, al-Joumhouria daily said on Monday.

Several political parties are adamant to be given certain portfolios in the new government which is hampering the efforts of PM-designate Saad Hariri to form one. The daily questioned the motives behind the unwavering positions and said that it raises fears as for the fate of the electoral law and the parliamentary elections that are supposed to be held in May.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced Sunday that the situations in the country “started to improve” after his appointment as PM-designate and Michel Aoun's election as president.

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Sunday noted that “the entire world has acknowledged Hizbullah's role” in the election of Michel Aoun as Lebanon's president.

A senior official of Speaker Nabih Berri's AMAL Movement stressed Sunday that no one can “eliminate” his movement from the political equation and that it is not to blame for the delay in the cabinet formation process.

Hizbullah has hailed late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, whose death was announced on Saturday, as a “historic symbol.”

MP Elie Marouni of the Kataeb bloc has stressed that his party will stand by newly-elected President Michel Aoun in order to “rebuild Lebanon.”

MP Ibrahim Kanaan of the Free Patriotic Movement has stressed the importance of the reconciliation between the FPM and the Lebanese Forces, noting that it aims to prevent “encroachment on the rights of Christians.”

The cabinet formation process is still facing several obstacles, amid wrangling by several parties over specific portfolios, a media report said on Sunday.

The Judicial Council, the Lebanese court that handles cases related to national security, launched Friday an in absentia trial in the case of the 1982 assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel, calling on Habib Chartouni -- who confessed to planting the bomb before escaping prison -- to turn himself in.

As the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag and Norwegian Ambassador Lene Natasha Lind visited Friday “Al Dar,” one of ABAAD’s safe houses for women and girl survivors or at high risk of violence.