Beirut, September 08: Lebanon’s prime minister-designate gave the president a proposed list for a new national unity government for his approval Monday, a move the Hezbollah-led parliamentary minority immediately rejected.
Hezbollah and its allies have not approved the list and have offered several names for specific posts that Hariri rejected.
Hariri said the Western-backed parliamentary majority will get 15 seats out of the 30-member Cabinet. The Hezbollah-led parliamentary minority will get 10 seats, while President Michel Suleiman will choose 5 seats.
But Hariri’s move cannot go into effect unless Suleiman approves it by signing a decree forming the new Cabinet.
Shortly after Hariri’s announcement, Christian leader and Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun said the move “shows that Mr. Saad Hariri does not want to form a Cabinet but wants to pass time and play with the Cabinet according to his mood.”
“If Hariri wants to create a new tradition (in forming a Cabinet), let him search for people other than us to form a Cabinet with,” Aoun, who is currently outside the country, said in remarks carried by the state-run National News Agency.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV criticized Hariri’s move in its main news bulletin Monday night describing his government as the “fait accompli Cabinet.” It added that Hariri opened the way for “major question marks regarding the fate of national unity.”
Hariri has been trying to put together a Cabinet since he was appointed by Suleiman on June 27 but disagreements over the distribution of top ministries have gotten in the way.
–Agencies