Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati has stressed that he will not form a government that resembles the previous governments.
“I know that the mission is very difficult and that my designation has become the only hope, and I have made this step in order to form a government and not something else, but I will not form a government that is similar to the previous ones,” Miqati told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.
He added that the formation of such a government would lead to “disputes and conflicts inside cabinet over the draft laws and decisions that will be taken by the government.”
“I’m not asking for extraordinary jurisdiction, but at least I should be able to practice my powers as a prime minister for the sake of facilitating action,” Miqati went on to say.
Denying that he has canceled an appointment at the presidential palace, the PM-designate clarified that “there was no appointment in the first place because the contacts that we made did not produce a meeting.”
“This issue was clear in my remarks after the last meeting,” he added.
Sources close to President Michel Aoun meanwhile said that there is a possibility for the formation of the new government in “the next two weeks,” adding that the President “is exerting utmost effort so that it be formed during this timeframe.”
“There is a solution that is being finalized to resolve the dispute over the interior portfolio,” the sources added, noting that the issue of the justice portfolio “has nearly been settled.”