Among the ongoing consultations to form a new government after the designation of PM Saad Hariri, there is a tendency to form an all-inclusive 30-minister government instead of the usual 24, to pave way for the representation of all political parties, An Nahar daily reported on Saturday.
Sources following up closely on the consultations said there is “semi-final trend to form a government of thirty ministers to include a broader political participation,” which will be formed under the banner of “consensus and national unity.”
“None of the political parties are to be distanced including those that opposed the election of President Michel Aoun such as the Marada and Kataeb,” they added.
“This time, the government will not be under the pressure of an ‘obstructing third’ because it is no more applicable now that the cards are shuffled and the alliances with Aoun are different,” remarked the sources.
The new government could include some new state-portfolios. To avoid a prolonged formation process, Aoun and Hariri could be pushed to form a technocrat cabinet shall the conditions set by political parties and demands to get specific portfolios mount.
Hariri began consultations on Friday with the parliamentarians to form the new cabinet after being nominated to the post by 112 out of 126 members of parliament.
The consultations will continue on Saturday.
Hariri’s key support had contributed to the election of Free Patriotic Movement founder and ex-army chief Michel Aoun as Lebanon’s 13th president on Monday, which ended around two and a half years of presidential and political vacuum.
Hariri’s nomination and Aoun’s election have raised hopes that Lebanon can begin tackling challenges including a stagnant economy, a moribund political class and the influx of more than a million Syrian refugees.
In a sign that Hariri’s task ahead might not be easy, Hizbullah’s MPs declined to endorse him for the prime minister post, even though his nomination was all-but-assured.
Hariri is likely to struggle with his government’s policy statement, which will have to make reference to Israel, as well as the war in Syria, both potential flashpoints with Hizbullah.
The process of forming a government could take months, with horsetrading likely to revolve around the distribution of key posts like the interior, defense and energy ministries.
