but the March 14 alliance were all this time waiting for Siniora to finalize the deals with the opposition before they allocate the portfolios amongst themselves . MP George Adwan said today that this could take couple of days, this is why the cabinet will most probably be announced mid of next week"
Siniora had a lunch meeting Saturday with general Aoun . It seems that the general is happy with what he got and he already assigned a name to each portfolio .
Sunday
20:27 the meeting of the General Secretariat of March 14 which was held in the Ashrafiyeh ended . It issued a resolution calling for resolving the issue of the Lebanese detainees in Syrian jails , particularly after Sidnaya prison events that led to the killing of 25 inmates
20:20 Voice of Lebanon : The Kataeb party ( Phalange ) has nominated Elie Marouni as its representative in the coming government. Marouni's brother, Nasri and another Kataeb partisan Salim Assi were shot dead in April in Zahle. Marouni visited Siniora at the Grand Serail to discuss his nomination.
20:12 Manar TV : sources expect premier Siniora to announce the formation of the government during the next 20 hours or latest by Wednesday. The problem right now is within the Christian members of the majority
20:07 Mario Aoun told New TV after meeting Siniora: All parties want what serves the interests of the Lebanese people and things are moving in the right direction towards a solution
19:39 reports about strong disagreement within the Christian members of March 14 alliance and between MP Walid Jumblatt and Minister Mohammad Safadi over the Ministry of Public Works
19:37, President Suleiman has decided finally to nominate attorney Ziad Baroud for the Ministry of Interior in the new cabinet
19:37 Hariri did not respond to the request of Hezbollah of swapping a Sunni minister for a Shiite .. Siniora sources denied the possibility of any swap deal
19:35 The opposition named its 11 candidates to the cabinet of national unity and notified Prime Minister designate Fouad Siniora accordingly
19:35 The names of and opposition candidates for ministerial positions in the new cabinet are: Alain Tabarian and Issam Abu Jamrah, Mario Aoun, Elias Skaff . Gibran Bassil , Mohammed Fneish , Ghazi Zuaiter , Fawzi Salloukh, Mohammad Jawad Khalifa, Talal Arslan, Ali Qansaou Qansouh ..
19:33 Al Manar TV: Israeli Supreme Court rejected a request to nullify the deal to exchange prisoners between Israel and Hezbollah
19:07 MP Siniora met 3 opposition nominees for posts in the new cabinet : Alain Taborian, Dr. Mario Aoun, Ghazi Zuaiter
18: 40 The doctors alliance of March 14 thanked all those that participated in the Syndicate elections and stated that 1564 doctors participated in the elections. The alliance accused the opposition of withdrawing its candidates 2 days earlier because they knew they will be losing and not because of disagreement on a consensus candidates
16:21 The candidates of the ruling majority won the elections of the Medical Syndicate . The opposition candidates withdrew two days ago
16:08, former deputy Ali Eid and the people of the northern Bekaa and Hermel appealed to Syrian President to reconsider the imposition of the fee on people crossing the borders from Syria into Lebanon. Syria imposed a fee of 550 Syrian pounds ( about $10 ) last week , without consulting with the Lebanese government . Syria also last week imposed a new tax of $380 on every export truck leaving Syria . The new rule on every truck entering or leaving Syria also targeted refrigerated trucks that transport foodstuff. The Lebanese drivers will be the most hurt by the new rule since they will have to pay double the fee ( or $760) since they will be entering and leaving the Syrian territory twice.
15:35 Attorney Elli Kayrouz accused supporters of Prime Minister Omar Karami of firing at at a patrol of the municipalality police of the city of police Bsharri
15:28 Patriarch Sfeir met with a delegation of March 14 supporters in Australia . He stressed that the expatriates are an integral part of Lebanon and their registration for voting in new parliament elections is welcome
15:27 MP Mohammad Raad: The share of Hezbollah in the government is the share of all the opposition . MP Fadlallah confirmed that the government was formed because the opposition did what was expected from it
15:11 MP Elias Skaff Warns of buying votes during forthcoming parliamentary elections
14:38 The general Secretariat of March 14 will meet at 6:00 p.m. today to discuss the subject of the government formation
14:33 President of the chamber of commerce in Nabatiyah district apologizes to families of martyrs for hosting at his home the U.S. charge d'affaires Michel Sison 2 weeks ago
14:03 Qabalan Qabalan: We highly appreciate the positive responses of Hariri and Jumblatt to Nasrallah and Berri 's invitations for meeting the returning prisoners
13:25 MP Robert Ghanem: We will be questioning the new government about its accomplishments , since there is no justification for failure after the Doha accord deal that reconciled the opposition and the majority
13:16 MP Antoine Zahra 13:16: Lebanese forces did not impose conditions and demands but with its March 14 will provide national balanced in the government. We reject all kinds of armament and consider only the weapon of the Lebanese army and police as legitimate
11:31 MP Samir Jisr: we have no problem in setting a ceiling spending in the parliamentary elections and we will discuss this matter when it comes up, Boutros-law ( electoral) reforms needed six months after approval in the House until being logistically implemented .
11:14 MP Samir Jisr surprised by talk of an agreement between Siniora and Aoun not to obstruct assistance to the Ministry of Energy by Qatar , saying that no patriotic Lebanese should obstruct any such assistance
10:57 Moussa: There is no going back and things are going in the right direction . The priority now is the electoral law
10:56 MP Michel Moussa: the regional and international convergence, particularly the French - Syrian, had a role in ending the crisis of government, as well as the U.S. facilitation
10:46 MP Samir Jisr: no disagreement within March 14 on the allocation of Ministers in the government . we are all in agreement to do what is best for the country.
10:40 MP Samir Jisr: I was not notified by either al Mustaqbal or Siniora about any position in the new government . I expect the government formation will be announced within 48 hours
09:19 MPs Saad Hariri and Walid Jumblatt will apply pressure on members within March 14 to speed up the formation of the cabinet
08:37 Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will meet with president Assad in Damascus today
06:30Al Hayat predicts the composition of the new cabinet as follows
Prime minister Fouad Siniora,
Issam Abu Jamra - Deputy PM - change and reform
MP Bahia Hariri - Educational,
Tamam Salam- minister without portfolio
MP Mohammad el Safadi
MP Samir el Jisr
Bilal Hamad
Gibran Bassil- communications change and reform
Mario aoun - social affairs change and reform
Alain Taborian - Energy - change and reform-
Elias skaff- agriculture change and reform
Ziad Baroud - Interior - President Suleiman
Elias Murr - Defense - President Suleiman
Roger Nasnas ...... President Suleiman
Toni karam - Lebanese forces
Ghattas Khoury - al Mustaqbal
Tarik Mitri- Culture
Nayal Mowad or Boutros Harb - Qurnet Shahwan
Salim el Sayigh - Phalange party
Ibrahim Najjar - Phalange party--
Fawzi Salloukh - amal
Mohamamad jawad Khalifa - amal
Mohamad Fneish - Hezbollah
Hussein el haj Hassan - Hezbollah
Ghazi Youssef - al Mustaqbal
Ogasbian - al Mustaqbal
Ghazi Aridi - Public works - Democratic gathering
Wael Abu Faour- Information - Democratic gathering
Tala Arslan - minister without portfolio
Nehme Tomeh - Displaced - Democratic gathering
06:10 Sada al Balad: all indications at the palace pointed towards announcing the government formation , but a new hiccup occurred that prevented this from happening. The Maronite Christians of March 14 alliance want equal share to that of their opposition counterparts. "
06:08 Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's political aide Hussein al Khalil gave PM Siniora the list of the Hezbollah ministers. he also gave him an invitation for welcoming the freed prisoners and the remains of the fighters that were killed during the 2006 war. There were blames and counter blames discussed during their meeting , but agreed in the end to continue to meet to sort out some outstanding issues.
05:37 Middle East News Agency: Arab League chief Amr Moussa hopes the government formation will be finalized within hours
05:36 PM Siniora received another list from General Aoun for the ministers he assigned to each portfolio . Issam abou Jamra , Deputy premier , Gibran Bassil - telecommunications , Dr. Mario Aoun - Social Affairs , Allan Taborian - Energy, Elias Skaff-Agriculture .In the previous list Nabil Nicolas was assigned to the ministry of Social Affairs.
05:30 Siniora's motto for the new cabinet will be : "Ministerial harmony to compensate to the citizens what they lost during the crises and taking good care of them at all levels "
05:28 The majority will have the following portfolios in the new cabinet : Finance , Education, Justice, Public works, Economy, Displaced , Information, Environment, Culture, Administration development, Tourism . The portfolios will be distributed as soon as MP Saad Hariri returns to Lebanon
05:25 Hezbollah's share in the government is 3 ministries: labor, Youth and sports
05:21 An Nahar - Siniora and Berri discussed Amal list of ministers . It seems that Salloukh's name was mentioned for the ministry of Foreign affairs and Mohammad Jawad Khalifa for the ministry of Health. Mohammad Berri, the speaker's brother was also mentioned for a ministerial post
Saturday
21:10 MP George Adwan : "Christians of March 14 should have same share in government as the Christian opposition." Adwan said there is" no disagreement with March 14 alliance on distribution of portfolios, but allocating the ministries could take couple of days". He said "Siniora also needs to meet all the ministers from both sides before announcing the cabinet , this is why the cabinet will most probably be announced mid of next week"
20:12 Minister Fatfat told al Arabiyah TV : I requested not to be in this new government for security reasons
20:03 Khureis told TV Du Liban: The next phase will witness meetings between the majority and the opposition
19:33 Siniora departs from Ain Tinah after meeting speaker Berri without talking to reporters
19:05 Huge fire in Mansouriyah . The civil defense is trying to to extinguish it
18:42 Siniora arrived at Ain el Tinah to c
18:13 General Aoun decided on the following names for the portfolios allocated to his change and reform bloc: Issam abou Jamra , Deputy premier , Gibran Bassil - telecommunications , Nabil Nicolas- Social Affairs , Allan Taborian - Energy, Elias Skaff-Agriculture
Tags: Breaking News, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Lebanon Files, Qatar, Siniora, source: Now Lebanon, Suleiman, Ya Libnan
