Date: Jun 25, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Hariri's efforts to form govt undermined: report BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s efforts to form a new government have been undermined by the “invention” of new customs, according to a Monday report by local daily Al-Mustaqbal. The newspaper, which is aligned to Hariri’s Future Movement, quoted sources close to the consultations on government formation saying that there have been efforts to impose certain customs regarding the control of ministries, warning that this will hinder the formation process. “The sources clarify that the attempt to impose invented new customs on the formation process in the past couple of hours undermined the efforts of the designated prime minister, who is pushing to bring different governmental constituents together,” the report read. The sources said that the most significant issue was the imposition of norms regarding the deputy prime minister position and other non-sovereign ministerial portfolios. This comes after reports have suggested that President Michel Aoun believes that the deputy premier position should be held by a minister close to the president. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Forces wants to maintain control of the deputy prime ministership, which is currently held by caretaker Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani. “The sources explained that naming a deputy prime minister isn’t linked to any political side through the Constitution or a certain norm, but it is related to agreement on the distribution of governmental shares and the decision [in this regard] goes back to the prime minister in coordination with the president,” Al-Mustaqbal’s report said. “The only known custom is that which is exclusive to the distribution of the four sovereign ministries: Interior, Defense, Finance and Foreign Affairs,” the daily said, quoting the sources, who did not clarify what custom should govern these ministries.