Baabda Palace has reiterated that President Michel Aoun was not insisting on obtaining veto power in the new government, stressing instead that concessions he is asking for are “constitutional rights.”
Meanwhile, all eyes are on the outcome of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s tour abroad. He is expected to visit Paris before giving a speech on the anniversary of the assassination of his father, former PM Rafik Hariri, next Sunday.
In a statement, the presidential palace criticized the persistence of some parties in claiming that Aoun was demanding veto power in the government, saying that such claims lacked “objectivity and were based on fabricated arguments.”
Well-informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that a solution to the stalemate in the formation of a new government awaited the revival of the French initiative and the outcome of Hariri’s recent visits abroad.
The sources added that the Vatican has expressed support to the initiative launched by President Emmanuel Macron and was seeking to give it more impetus.
In parallel, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai reiterated his call for holding a UN-sponsored international conference to help save the country from its political and economic crisis.
Speaking on Tuesday during a mass to celebrate Saint Maron’s feast, the patriarch said: “The Lebanese suffer torments and make sacrifices, while the state is busy with small matters.”
“The officials are competing to disrupt solutions, which drives us to the United Nations to hold a special conference to save Lebanon from falling,” he added.
