March 8 Dismayed by Leak of Alleged Technocrat Cabinet Lineup
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The March 8 forces on Friday voiced dismay after media reports said Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam intends to form a small, technocrat cabinet and after the names of its alleged members were leaked.
“Salam has not communicated with the March 8 forces since the end of consultations at al-Nejmeh Square,” NBN television reported.
Meanwhile, al-Manar television quoted Free Patriotic Movement sources as saying that “given the leaked information and the non-neutral candidates, this cabinet can be described as a 'cabinet of ghosts.'"
And as al-Manar said "Salam did suggest a 14-minister cabinet" during talks with President Michel Suleiman, it quoted Baabda sources as saying that "it's too early to approve a de facto cabinet line-up and the call for (national) dialogue will happen after forming a new cabinet."
"Discussions with Suleiman only tackled the cabinet's shape, which has not yet been decided, and we categorically deny the alleged leaks," Salam's sources told al-Manar.
Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, ex-Minister Jean Obeid, former Minister Ziad Baroud, Raed Sharafeddine, former MP Nasser Nasrallah, Bahij Abou Hamze, Nicolas Nahhas and Mohammed al-Mashnouq are among the names that are being considered for the new government, according to several local newspapers.
Change and Reform bloc MP Nabil Nicola criticized the leaked lineup during an interview on OTV.
“If technocrat means that the minister should be totally neutral, I think the political affiliation of some of the published names is very well-known,” Nicola said, in an indirect reference to Abou Hamze, who is close to Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat.
A war of words had erupted between Jumblat and the FPM after the Druze leader said he rejects reallocating the telecom and energy portfolios to FPM ministers in the new cabinet.
Salam was over the weekend tasked by Suleiman with forming the cabinet after he received the support of 124 out of 128 MPs in two days of binding consultations that the president held at Baabda palace.
The March 8 forces have called for forming a political, national unity cabinet while the March 14 forces have called for forming a neutral, technocrat cabinet. And while Salam has said that he is seeking a cabinet to oversee the parliamentary polls that does not contain MP hopefuls, Jumblat has reassured March 8 that he will not vote for a one-sided government.
12 April 2013, 22:10
25
this country is a total loss and a total mess. you cannot live with march 8 and their policies! but they are lebanese and are not going anywhere.. when will they wake up and fight for the sake of their lebanese identity?
12 April 2013, 22:14
44
Maybe the people who don't fly the Lebanese flag above their party's should just be quiet.
Not reported by Al Manar or NBN....
13 April 2013, 02:40
26
Why would M8 be opposed to a technocrat government that will expedite the elections unless they are really worried, perhaps even afraid, that they are not destined to win a majority ever again.
It is now abundantly clear what their real reasons are behind insisting on a "unity" government -> more conflict which leads to lessening the chances of agreement and hence postponing the elections indefinitely.
Aoun is bleeding support, HA is starting to do the same and Berri, well what can you say about Berri except that he is the king of opportunism. He can see the Syrian order of Bashar crumbling and, along with Jumblatt, is trying to jockey for a new position.
13 April 2013, 07:25
34
josh please stop your stupid propaganda.
hizbushaitan weapons are and have been a threat to Lebanon and we saw them in action internally.
FYI, weapons are in the hands of m14, and it is currently the only deterrent to hizbushaitan of doing a new may 7.
you could argue that hizbushaitan has superior weapons and training, and I will agree. but now it is no more a walk in the park for them, and they know it. they know they are losing ground each day, and this is what is preventing a civil war so far.
should things deteriorate, you will be surprised.
13 April 2013, 07:27
34
sunnis of m14 are the rational ones. would you rather deal with the salafis?
if you are an extremist, you prefer to have extremists in front of you to justify your existence, and this is clearly what is going on with hizbushaitan arming some salafis to justify their existence.
moderate sunnis are the rational people we need to nurture and help to stay in power, otherwise the sunni extremism will take over.
13 April 2013, 07:36
12
Well... On the brighter side... At least they are talking and not fighting on the streets
13 April 2013, 09:09
23
Josh we might not see an eye to eye. , but I totally agree with you on your comment , thumbs up for you. !!!
13 April 2013, 09:17
22
Geha , very easy to contain the radicals , just hunt them down like your hunting bush pigs , down with the radical Islam ie al Nusra boko haram , Taliban , Qaida , etc , etc , ....
13 April 2013, 11:16
30
tomahawk
you are dillusional.
Russia and the US failed at containing sunni extremists in spite of all their might, and the more you kill, the more extremists you create.
hizbushaitan are extremists and they are not domesticated as you say: they proved it when they had a chance, and they keep threatening.
to return to the extremists: Russia and the US found out the best way to get rrid of them is to create the Syrian situation whereby extremists from all around the world including iran and hizbushaitan are converging there to kill each other.
13 April 2013, 19:27
10
You realize that M8 will not allow a government of technocrats, right?
13 April 2013, 21:50
00
Corruption from head to toe, M8, M14, M16 & Mballout! Tfeh 3ala kel eli bishaj3o Hal haramiyé!
