Al-Balad: “Snag” … from the sixth Maronite to the sixth Sunni

Snags have returned to dominate the stalled government formation process. First the problem in forming the Cabinet stemmed from a struggle between the general in Baabda and the general in Rabieh over the Interior Ministry, then the problem moved to the issue of the “sixth Maronite [minister]" and this Saturday saw Sunni political activity over the issue of the sixth Sunni minister. Although MP Ahmad Karami “was promised” a ministerial post, former Prime Minister Omar Karami stressed that “Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati had promised to come to a compromise over the naming of his son Faysal in the new government.”

Al-Mustaqbal: Mikati waits for the regional picture to get clearer and renews his request for the “Telecoms” Ministry

Official sources close to the Cabinet formation told Al-Mustaqbal that “the latest tune suggests that the government will be either formed Monday or Tuesday or never. They added that “the new leading snag concerns the sixth Sunni minister and then followed by the Druze problem that centers on Talal Arsalan’s insistence on a post. [Arsalan] was offered a state ministerial post that would be allotted to MP Maroun Abou Fadel [for the Othodox seat].”

The sources said that Mikati has informed mediators that he wants the Telecoms Ministry portfolio as part of his shares and that the impression of observers is that Mikati is not hurrying to form the government before he has a clearer picture of developments in the region.

Hezbollah breaks its promise to Sayyed Hussein

Al-Mustaqbal has learned that caretaker Minister of State Adnan Sayyed Hussein has been informed officially by Hezbollah of its decision not to carry through with its promise of handing him either the foreign or information ministry portfolios.

An-Nahar: The new majority asks itself: Will there be a new Cabinet

The air of optimism that appeared three days ago has given way to questioning about the next few days to come.

Sources close to Prime Minister-designate consider that what is being said concerning giving Faysal Karami a ministerial post is not appropriate as the issue does not get resolved in the media.

An-Nahar has learned that Mikati and Karami met this week at a beach in Beirut. The meeting had been cordial and the issue of giving Karami a ministerial post had not been brought up.

However, several days ago the two Khalil’s did bring up the subject. Mikati reminded them that there should be a settlement on the issue of the Karami family representation and that should be done through resolving the dispute between former Prime Minister Omar Karami and MP Ahmad Karami, or that former Prime Minister Omar Karami propose a name to represent the Sunni opposition in the government from outside the family.

However, Hezbollah was not satisfied with this suggestion and launched through the media strong calls for Faysal Karami to be allotted a ministerial post.