Suleiman, Miqati Agree Not to Form One-sided Cabinet to Avoid Clash with West
President Michel Suleiman agrees with Premier-designate Najib Miqati on the need to avoid the formation of a one-sided cabinet so that it does not clash with the West and mainly the Obama administration, As Safir daily said Tuesday.
Suleiman does not mind that Miqati forms a balanced government in which the new parliamentary majority would get 19 ministers while the centrist bloc that includes the president, the PM-designate and MP Walid Jumblat would get 11 ministers, the newspaper said.
According to the daily, Suleiman believes that the March 8 forces should receive the biggest share as a right following their nomination of Miqati.
But the president stresses that he should get 3 Christian ministers, including one Maronite, while 3 others, including a Sunni, should go to Jumblat and five seats, including a Christian, should go to Miqati.
After agreement between Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on naming retired Internal Security Forces Maj. Gen. Marwan Charbel to the interior ministry post, the president began demanding an additional Maronite minister.
As Safir said that Suleiman is asking for another Maronite minister because he believes that Charbel is not considered part of the president’s share. He is part of the share of all March 8 parties, according to the president.
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