A recent meeting between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Monday has ended with an agreement over the formation of an 18-minister cabinet, while talks are now focusing on the names of the new ministers and the distribution of portfolios.
Political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Aoun and Hariri could meet anytime soon to continue the discussions over the distribution of ministries by confession and agree on the names of the ministers.
According to the sources, a recent statement issued by the Lebanese Presidency - which stressed that government talks were now limited to the president and the prime minister-designate – constituted “a presidential attempt to protect the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, from accusations that he was directly interfering with the formation process.
Aoun is also is in dire need to save the last third of his presidential term, after he failed to fulfill the oath speech he delivered before Parliament upon his election in October 2016, the sources underlined.
The political sources attributed Aoun’s agreement to resume contact with Hariri to a set of considerations, including the refusal of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai to be dragged into political campaigns that tried to distort the ongoing efforts to form a new government. Former Minister Ghattas Khoury conveyed to the Patriarch a message from Hariri, saying that the latter understands his concerns and would not turn his back on the Christians.
Another factor is the call by the Synod, at the end of its meeting chaired by al-Rai, to end the pressures on Hariri that were impeding the formation of the government.
The sources also pointed to foreign pressure, particularly from Paris, to revive the initiative launched by French President Emmanuel Macron to save Lebanon and stop its economic and financial collapse.
Another point, according to the sources, is Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s approval of Hariri’s demand to form a government of 18 ministers.
