The head of the Lebanese Democratic Party MP Talal Arslan said during a press conference:”I repeat my nomination of Progressive Socialist Party ( PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblat to personally assume the position of interior minister.
Arslan cautioned against classifying ministries as sovereign and non-sovereign, calling this an unconstitutional invention . During the 2009 cabinet formation sovereign portfolios were listed as : Justice, Interior, Finance and Foreign Affairs . General Michel Aoun was the one who brought up the issue of sovereign ministries and insisted in 2009 of having one of the 4 , but he failed in achieving his goal.
This time around Aoun is insisting on getting the ministry of interior , but president Michel Suleiman won’t let him have it.
Arslan is reportedly making the suggestion to end the dispute between Aoun and Suleiman over the cabinet formation.
In the outgoing cabinet the Interior ministry is headed by Minister Ziad Baroud , who represents president Suleiman
The Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s ( STL) indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005 .
Nagib Mikati, who was backed by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies including Jumblatt and Mohammad Safadi, was appointed by president Michel Suleiman as PM-designate to form and head the next cabinet , giving Hezbollah and its allies increased leverage in the country and provoking widespread protests.
Jumblatt who, along with his parliamentary bloc had the decisive vote in the naming of PM designate was reportedly subjected to repeated threats by Hezbollah.
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