President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri reportedly held a “secret meeting” over the weekend, probably to discuss the draft Cabinet formula that Hariri had presented to Aoun earlier in the month, local media said Thursday.
According to local daily Al-Akhbar, Hariri met with Aoun Saturday night without notifying the media, ahead of the president’s trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Hariri also met separately with Aoun’s son-in-law, caretaker Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil, the newspaper reported.
Al-Akhbar cited sources who said that Aoun and Hariri’s supposed meeting, which took place at Baabda Palace, likely took place so that the two could discuss the draft Cabinet formula the premiere-designate had presented to the president on Sept. 3. The formula failed to gain the support of Aoun and the FPM, and therefore to break the deadlock in Cabinet formation.
Aoun had voiced a number of reservations about Hariri’s proposal, particularly regarding the allocation of ministerial posts to the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party.
The formation process recently entered its fifth month of deadlock. Among the main issues causing the impasse is a dispute between the LF and the FPM over the distribution of Christian seats in the next Cabinet. The LF is demanding five ministerial posts, including either a sovereign ministry or the deputy premiership. Aoun and the FPM oppose these demands.
The second central issue has been the PSP’s insistence on receiving the three ministerial seats allocated to the Druze sect in the Cabinet, seemingly with the intent of depriving FPM ally Druze MP Talal Arslan of a post.
According to Al-Akhbar, sources close to Hariri denied that the meetings had taken place. FPM sources would neither confirm nor deny that they had occurred, but said that communication with Hariri was ongoing.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
