News reports said Saturday that Premier-designate Saad Hariri could propose a cabinet list to President Michel Suleiman within days despite the Free Patriotic Movement’s insistence on getting five portfolios, including one key ministry, and its right to choose its own ministers.
An opposition leader told As Safir daily that Hizbullah will not participate in the government without FPM leader Michel Aoun. Another top-ranking official with Hizbullah told al-Liwaa that “the Shiite team (Hizbullah and Amal) didn’t and won’t hand over the premier-designate the list of suggested ministers as long as the PM-designate is not complying with Aoun’s demands.”

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Fayyad, who took part in the talks between Hizbullah, Amal and Hariri in Qoreitem on Thursday, told An Nahar daily that the conferees asked the premier-designate what he meant by saying during an Iftar speech that “the premiership is not for compromise.” Fayyad said Hariri refused to comment and did not announce what steps he would take in the next few days.

Opposition sources said the Qoreitem meeting “was nothing but a continuation of ongoing dialogue about cabinet formation.” Hariri reiterated during the talks his rejection to bring to cabinet candidates who had lost in the parliamentary elections, a clear reference to Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil.

FPM sources, meanwhile, told An Nahar that they had “no idea about any proposal that the premier-designate would make to President Suleiman.”

They stressed that the FPM continues to insist on getting five cabinet seats, including one key portfolio, the right to name its own ministers and the right to choose the ministries it wants.

As Safir daily said a meeting could be held again between Hariri and Bassil in an attempt to find a way out of the government crisis.