BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s meeting with caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has made progress toward resolving the problem of Christian representation in the new government, a development that will encourage Speaker Nabih Berri to intervene to overcome other hurdles, political sources said Friday.
“The Hariri-Bassil meeting has made progress toward overcoming the Christian representation hurdle between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces,” a source familiar with the government formation process told The Daily Star.
“This breakthrough is bound to encourage Speaker Berri to step in to resolve the other obstacles blocking the formation of a new government, mainly those related to the representation of the Druze sect, the Marada Movement and Hezbollah,” the source said.
Local media outlets said Bassil, the FPM leader, agreed during his meeting with Hariri Thursday night to granting the Lebanese Forces four ministerial posts – two of them key portfolios – but not necessarily a sovereign ministry as LF officials have been demanding.