Efforts to form cabinet hit brick wall over portfolios

BEIRUT: While the weekend did not mark any new developments on the government formation front, reports indicated that all efforts are seemingly back to square one when it comes to the assignment of portfolios.

So far, the share and portfolios assigned to the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) seem to be the main obstacle in the way of the formation of the cabinet.

On Sunday, Prime Minister- designate Saad Hariri was still waiting for a response from FPM leader MP Michel Aoun to an invitation for lunch to discuss pending issues pertaining to the formation of the cabinet.

Aoun is expected to hold a news conference on Monday to reveal his stances concerning the cabinet formation process.

A statement by Aoun’s press office said the news conference aimed at “responding to the campaign being waged against him by the March 14 Forces.”

The March 14 Forces have taken on Aoun over his alleged insistence to have his son-in-law, caretaker Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil, remain in cabinet. The March 14 Forces argue that since Bassil failed to make it to Parliament when he lost the June parliamentary polls in the district of Batroun, he should not be allowed a seat in the cabinet.

However, sources told LBCI television on Sunday that the problem with Aoun “goes deeper than that and can be tied to more serious issues.”

The sources added that Aoun’s insistence to retain the Telecommunications Ministry, a demand backed by Hizbullah, was another source of deadlock.

Aoun hopes for the nomination of three Maronite ministers, which according to the sources would jeopardize the chances of Maronite figures from the March 14 Forces such as MP Butros Harb and caretaker Minister of State Nassib Lahoud making it to the cabinet.

A Hizbullah source told pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat in comments published on Sunday that the party backed Hariri in his efforts to form a national unity cabinet.

“However,” the source said, “supporting Premier-designate Saad Hariri’s does not prevent the party from expressing solidarity with Aoun in the face of the campaign against him.”

Sources from the parliamentary majority told Al-Hayat that such a statnce from Hizbullah “encourages Aoun to show more inflexibility.”

On Sunday, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir said during his Sunday sermon that many politicians were “looking after their own interests” thus hindering the formation of a cabinet.

“The political squabbling shows that many of those who work in politics do not care about the good of the country and are looking after their own interests thus hindering the formation of a government that works for the interest of this country,” Sfeir said.

Caretaker Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi said Sunday that the next cabinet would be formed based on the formula that was agreed on by all Lebanese parties.

“The government will be formed based on the agreed formula. The formula has settled on 15-10-5,” Aridi said in the Bekaa city of Baalbek.

The 15-10-5 make-up grants the majority 15 ministers, the opposition 10 and President Michel Sleiman five seats, which guarantees him the tipping vote while both March 14 and the opposition would respectively be denied the absolute majority or veto power.

Aridi said the issue of portfolios could be solved through dialogue. “We call for a serious dialogue to speed up [cabinet] formation so that we all focus on facing political challenges.”

Aridi toured Baalbek and the northern Bekaa on Sunday to inspect infrastructure works carried out by his ministry.

Asked whether the Public Works Ministry would be part of the Progressive Socialist Party’s share in the new government, Aridi said: “The PSP holds onto the ministry.”

In other news, caretaker Youth and Sports Minister Talal Arslan told Hizbullah’s politburo head Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed Saturday he was willing to give up his own post in a future cabinet but he could not forego the right of his party to representation.

Arslan insisted on the need to reach a shape-up “as soon as possible for the good of the country and to preserve its unity.” He called for a government of national unity and of “real national partnership in order to be able to confront Israeli threats and others on the domestic, regional and international levels.”

The leader of the Lebanese Democratic party said his meeting with Sayyed was part of “constant coordination between him and Hizbullah” and stressed that the “resistance is his strategic path that he cannot deviate from.”

For his part, Sayyed also called for the speedy formation of a government that “can achieve real and effective partnership.” He said the timing for the government’s birth was “up to Premier-designate Saad Hariri,” adding that the opposition provided “all the required facilitations to form a government.”

He accused “some sides of trying to raise malicious points and wanting to settle political and electoral scores with some members of the opposition in order to cover up problems or crisis within their ranks.”