The struggle to form a government continues and efforts to break cabinet deadlock are being called out as “interference”.
On Tuesday, President Michel Aoun released a statement tackling Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri‘s efforts to propose solutions that would ramp up the long-overdue government formation.
Aoun considered the efforts of Berri and others who are keen on pushing government formation, such as Sunni religious figures who encourage Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri not to step down, as “a breach of the constitution.”
Citing the constitution, Aoun asserted in the statement that the cabinet formation process was up to the president and the prime minister-designate alone.
Back in April, Berri and the head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt stepped up efforts to break the government formation deadlock and proposed a solution of a 24-member cabinet and no veto power for any side.
That solution was disregarded by President Aoun who reportedly insists on gaining veto power for his political team.
That was followed weeks later by Aoun reportedly wanting to imprison both Berri and Hariri, as well as Jumblatt.
While efforts of other officials, including the speaker of the parliament, to ease the government formation are criticized as interference, Aoun‘s son-in-law, MP Gebran Bassil, has been reportedly interfering by imposing conditions on the cabinet formation.
These conditions are said to be the root of Aoun‘s disagreement with Hariri that is blocking the formation of the cabinet for months.
