Hariri to Submit Govt. Format 'within 2 Days', Hits Out at Damascus

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced Tuesday that he will meet soon with President Michel Aoun as an MP of his bloc said he will submit a “new government format” within “two days.”

“I will visit the president soon and I have not announced any deadline for my designation and I'm not compelled to abide by any deadline,” Hariri said.

Turning to the Syrian refugee file, Hariri added: “It caught my attention that the Russians and the Americans were the ones who decided that the refugees should return and not the Syrian regime.”

“As for coordination to return the refugees, it is underway in the known manner,” the PM-designate added, apparently referring to General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim's efforts in this regard.

MP Dima Jamali of Hariri's al-Mustaqbal bloc meanwhile told al-Jadeed TV that the PM-designate “will visit Baabda within two days to present to President Aoun a new cabinet line-up format.”

“He has told the bloc that the atmosphere is positive regarding the Cabinet formation process,” Jamali added.

Hariri was tasked with forming a new government on May 24.

His mission is being hindered by political wrangling over the Christian and Druze shares.