Lebanon Caught Between Real Change and Old Power Brokers Dima Abumaria
President, prime minister-designate tangle over forming a government
After initial optimism over the formation of a new government in Lebanon, President Michel Aoun has objected to what he called Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s “solo decision-making” in nominating cabinet members, especially the Christian ministers, without first consulting with him.
Hariri denied he was bypassing the president in assembling the Council of Ministers, the executive body of Lebanon which is presided over by the prime minister and is traditionally comprised of an equal number of Christian and Muslim ministers.
The prime minister-designate’s office issued a statement on Monday saying that in their second meeting on the subject, Hariri received a list of candidates from the president, “from which the four names of the Christian candidates were chosen.”