Two weeks after PM-designate Saad Hariri presented to President Michel Aoun a draft cabinet line-up, no developments have emerged in the government formation process.
“Cabinet formation is going slower than the speed of a turtle,” MP Chamel Roukoz from the Strong Lebanon bloc said Sunday.
“All parties are responsible for this delay,” he said, adding that the Lebanese people were paying the price, particularly at the economic level.
The deputy said the cabinet could be formed within two days if all parties agreed on a certain formula.
However, he said any debate on the President's share in the government is out of the question.
On Sunday, the Free Patriotic Movement announced its adherence to the nomination of Hariri.
However, one of the movement’s members, MP Salim Aoun said the Strong Lebanon bloc would not give up its ministerial demands. “We are trying to keep the door open to a solution,” he said, expressing his optimism about the near formation of a government.
On Sunday, the Mufti of Tripoli and Northern Lebanon, Sheikh Malik Al-Shaar, reiterated his support for the Sunni Prime Minister.
At the same time, he said his position should not be explained as standing against the President, the Speaker or the Army Commander.
Meanwhile, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rai reemphasized the need for an "emergency government to be formed based on internal unity and reconciliation."
The Patriarch called on the President and the PM to speed up the formation of a new government for the sake of the country.
"It's unacceptable to leave the country in a stalemate in the absence of a new government," Rai said during his pastoral visit to Baasir village.
The Prelate also appealed to officials to rise above their personal interests and narrow calculations if they truly wish to carry out any beneficial initiative far from quota sharing.
