A cabinet may be announced today , updates

The sequence of events at the Baabda palace is leading to speculation that a cabinet may be announced as early as today.

President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held talks at Baabda Palace Monday to discuss 30-member Cabinet lineup that was presented by the PM designate .

Secretary general of the Government , Suheil al-Bouji, arrived at the Presidential Palace following the tripartite meeting . Tradition has it that the secretary general reads the decrees announcing the appointment of the government.

Berri left Baabda Palace without making any statement, but sources said he had reservations on the lineup, namely the sixth Sunni seat, the third Druze seat and the sixth Maronite seat.

New TV reported that Berri will issue statement voicing “dissatisfaction” on cabinet formation later today

The draft 30-member lineup is made up of politicians and includes technocrats, LBC said. March 8 sources said, however, that if Mikati announces the lineup, it would be a de facto government because it doesn’t include the name of Faisal Karami as the representative of the former Sunni opposition.

Once a government is formed, a ministerial committee will draft a policy statement, The new Cabinet then endorses the draft and presents it to Parliament for a vote of confidence.

Update:

MTV reported that the 6th Maronite Minister is president Suleiman’s adviser Nazem al-Khoury , who will be assigned the ministry of environment, while Faisal Karami will be assigned the education ministry and Talal Arslan a state ministry.

Future TV reported that The Ministries of Telecommunications, Justice, and Interior will be in the basket of Hezbollah and FPM.

Bouji started reading the announcement on the government formation. He started by naming Mikati as the PM of the new cabinet .

The decree number is 5818 and the names of the cabinet ministers as follows:

Samir Moqbel Deputy Prime Minister, Talal Arslan, Minister of State, Nicolas Fattoush Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ghazi Aridi Minister of public works and transport, Ali Qansou Minister of State, Ali Hassan Khalil, Minister of Public Health, Mohammad Safadi Minister of Finance , Mohammed Fneish, Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs, Wael Abu Faour, Minister of Social Affairs, Gebran Basil Minister of Energy, Hussein Hajj Hassan Minister of agriculture, Charbel Nahas, Minister of Labour, Fadi Abboud, Minister of Tourism, Salim Karam, Minister of State, Aladdin Terru ,Minister of Displaced, Ahmad Karami Minister of State, Nazem Khoury, Minister of Environment, Fayez Ghosn, Minister of National Defence, Chakib Qurtbawi Minister of Justice, Adnan Mansour, Minister of Foreign Affairs , Nicola Nahhas Minister of Economy and Trade, Marwan Charbel, Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Nzarit Sabounjian Minister of Industry, Walid Daouk , Minister of information Mallagean , Minister of State, Diab Minister of Education Gaby Layyoun Minister of Culture, Nicola Sahnawi Minister of Telecom, Faisal Karami Minister of Youth and Sports.

Following announcement of the cabinet , Mikati said: We remain committed to the constitution, liberation of occupied Lebanese territory, and calm dialogue to settle disputes among Lebanese.

Don’t judge us by the names , judge us by our actions . “He added this cabinet could not have seen the light if it wasn’t for the sacrifices of Speaker Berri ”