Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati is currently holding a meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri’s political aide Ali Hassan Khalil , Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s political aide Hajj Hussein Khalil and General Michel Aoun’s son-in-law Gibran Bassil to discuss the cabinet formation.
An unnamed source close to the Prime Minister-designate said that he is waiting for Aoun to submit the list of names for ministerial portfolio candidates, OTV reported on Wednesday.
During an interview with OTV MP Suleiman Franjieh blamed the lack of coordination and understanding between the concerned March 8 allies for the delay in cabinet formation.
Commenting on the issue of Interior ministry he said : I was offered it and I refused it but may be if I said yes they would not have given it to me
Aoun’s ally , the Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) imminent indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005.
Lebanon has been run by a caretaker government since last January. Mikati was appointed in January as the PM designate with the backing of the Hezbollah led-March 8 alliance, MPs Jumblatt and Mohammad Safadi . March 14 leaders have repeatedly said that intimidation from Hezbollah’s weapons helped secure the parliamentary majority for Mikati’s nomination.
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