03 July 2008

BEIRUT: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora reportedly offered the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) a new proposal on Wednesday on the distribution of portfolios in the new unity cabinet.  

The proposal was handed over to a senior official of the FPM, Gibran Bassil, during a meeting at the Grand Serail, according to reports in the local media, which described the meeting as "positive."

Sources close to Siniora told The Daily Star Wednesday that Siniora and Bassil had discussed fresh ideas, adding that the premier was waiting for an official response.

However, FPM MP Nabil Nicholas said the next move was premier's.

"We want the new government to be formed as soon as possible, but this issue is not in our hands," he said.

"Serious ideas were discussed in the meeting ... the ball is in Siniora's court," he added.

FPM lawmaker Ibrahim Kanaan also told The Daily Star that the discussions between Siniora and Bassil could yield positive results if met with commitment on the part of the premier.

News reports on Wednesday said the package handed to Bassil offered the FPM the energy, public works, economy and agriculture portfolios in addition to the post of deputy premier.

FPM leader and MP Michel Aoun had reportedly rejected an earlier offer by Siniora because it did not include the Public Works Ministry.

The FPM leader has insisted on getting that particular portfolio, saying on Monday that he wanted to pave the battered roads in Jbeil.

Aoun said he was not interested in getting the Telecommunications Ministry, which was included in an earlier offer.

"We want asphalt ... let them have the money," he said.

Meanwhile, President Michel Sleiman contacted Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and discussed with him the latest developments with respect to the formation of the new cabinet.

Qatar was the main Arab broker of May's Doha agreement, which ended an 18-month political crisis in Lebanon and paved the way toward Suleiman's election as president.

Suleiman also met on Wednesday with a Hizbullah delegation headed by Hussein Khalil, a political aide of the party's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The meeting addressed the ongoing consultations to form the new cabinet.

Khalil said after the meeting that the Hizbullah delegation also informed the president of the latest developments regarding the expected prisoner swap between Hizbullah and Israel.

Khalil said the delegation agreed with Sleiman on two points; speeding up but not rushing the formation of the new cabinet, and urging the relevant parties to contact each other directly instead of using mediators.

"Direct contacts will yield better results when it comes to forming the new cabinet," Khalil added.

Meanwhile, Amal Movement MP Ali Hassan Khalil said the opposition was interested in forming a new government as soon as possible.

"I want to tell all who are accusing us of blocking the formation of a new cabinet that the opposition is interested more than any other party in seeing the birth of a new cabinet," he said.

The opposition will get veto power in the new cabinet.

Late on Tuesday, parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri said that he was willing to initiate contacts with the opposition, including Aoun, in order to facilitate the creation of the new cabinet.

Hariri made the remarks after a three-hour visit to the Presidential Palace, where he discussed with Sleiman possible solutions to the impasse.

The meeting between Hariri and Sleiman was reported to have given a big push to efforts aimed at facilitating the formation of a new government.

Hariri said after the meeting that the formation of a new cabinet was necessary to ensure a normal beginning for the term of the new president.

"The establishment of the government has been delayed, and the Lebanese are tired of waiting," he said.

Hariri added that he believed that the lack of communication between the parliamentary majority and opposition camps was the main reason for the delay in the formation of a new cabinet.

He also rejected reports of rifts within the parliamentary majority regarding the distribution of portfolios in the new unity cabinet.

Bassil said on Wednesday that Hariri's remarks after meeting Sleiman had been positive, and called on Hariri to turn his words into action.

Maronite bishops blast pace of cabinet creation

Maroun Khoury

Daily Star correspondent

BEIRUT: The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday decried the slow pace of efforts to form a new cabinet in Lebanon and called for placing the nation's interests above other agendas.

The bishops, in a statement following their monthly meeting headed by Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, cautioned that most of the country's citizens are living on the verge of poverty, which has forced many of them to emigrate.

The statement criticized rhetoric exchanged between politicians, saying their standard had "declined" and claiming that citizens have been used to politicians who address one another with respect and accuracy that allows room for understanding.

National interests "should be topics for discussion, away from claiming imaginary heroism," the statement said.

The statement added that politicians should exert "maximum efforts" to confront challenges encountered by the Lebanese people.

The bishops called on politicians to tackle the challenge of soaring prices of staple goods that are overwhelming the people.

Despite the ongoing situation in the country, the bishops expressed hope that tourists would continue heading to Lebanon for their summer vacations.