Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday called on Lebanon PM-Designate Tammam Salam to resign after 10-month failure to form a cabinet and warned that any cabinet that does not respect the constitution and coexistence among the Lebanese would be considered “illegitimate.”
Aoun accused Salam of not exerting “any effort to resolve the crisis” during that period and of tampering with the standards that ensure a proper cabinet formation process.”
But according to Lebanese Forces leader Aoun has been the main obstacle behind the formation of the cabinet .
LF leader Samir Geagea urged President Michel Suleiman and PM-designate Tammam Salam not to waste any more time and form a neutral cabinet as soon as possible .
“ Suleiman and Salam should not waste any more time and they should use their constitutional powers to form a cabinet that is independent from the March 8 and the March 14 coalitions, but not detached from the policy of sovereignty represented in the Baabda Declaration,” Geagea told Al-Markazia news agency on Tuesday.
“For the first time, experience is showing that the formation of the so-called all-embracing government is facing mountain size obstacles ,” he said.
Such obstacles are linked to “narrow interests,” the LF chief said in reference to Aoun his Christian rival, who has rejected the all-embracing cabinet based on the 8-8-8 formula and the rotation of portfolios among sects.
“A neutral government is the only one … that leads to an acceptable level of stability in the country and distances itself from the logic of division of shares,” Geagea stressed.
One analysts told Ya Libnan The Free Patriotic Movement leader has rejected the proposed rotation of the ministerial portfolios and his son-in-law caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil is insisting on holding onto the Energy Ministry and the ministry of telecon based on Hezbollah orders. Aoun’s ally Hezbollah reportedly wants to control the oil and gas resources and the ministry of telecon for its own interest.
An Nahar daily reported that Salam will be informed on Tuesday about Aoun’s final answer with regards to the deal struck among the rest of the factions on the 24-member cabinet and the rotation of portfolios.
The daily said the countdown for the formation of the government starts on Tuesday as Salam holds onto the 8-8-8 formula and the concept of rotation.
Other reports indicated that President Suleiman and Salam could resort to a neutral government or an all-embracing cabinet excluding the FPM if Aoun continues to reject the concept of rotation of portfolios.
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