Lebanon's prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said on Saturday he will not form a cabinet that simply caters to President Michel Aoun's wishes.
"I will not form a government as the team of his Excellency the President wants it, nor any other political faction. I will only form the kind of government needed to stop collapse and prevent the big crash that is threatening the Lebanese," Hariri told a parliament session on Saturday.
Aoun had written to parliament last week declaring that Hariri could not form a government.
Later on Saturday, Aoun’s son-in-law and MP Gebran Bassil said the president did not intend to revoke Hariri’s mandate.
Hariri was nominated in October to form a cabinet after Hassan Diab's government resigned in the wake of the massive Beirut port explosion, which killed 200 people and damaged large swathes of the capital.
But Hariri and Aoun have been at loggerheads for months over cabinet positions, blocking the formation of a government, with observers saying Bassil holds sway over the president. Diab and his cabinet have stayed on in a caretaker capacity, but investors worry that without a new government in place, reforms cannot be enacted to end a financial crisis.
In a letter read out to parliament on Friday, Aoun said Hariri could not form a cabinet. This was seen by some politicians as an effective declaration that someone else would have to be found to take the role of prime minister.
Bassil clarified that removing Hariri was not Aoun's aim.
"The purpose is not to take back the designation from the prime minister-designate," Bassil told a parliament session convened to discuss the letter.
The parliament session ended with Speaker Nabih Berri calling on Hariri to form a cabinet with the approval of Aoun.
