Date: Aug 16, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Lack of govt is a pure Lebanese failure: Hariri Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri Tuesday said the lack of success so far in forming a new government was “a pure Lebanese failure” as some parties refused to budge on their demands for key ministerial portfolios, and denied there was any regional intervention influencing the formation process. Declaring that Lebanon was facing economic problems and surrounded by regional conflicts, Hariri underlined the urgency for the quick formation of an all-embracing national entente government. He said more time was still needed to reach a final Cabinet lineup. His remarks came as the government formation stalemate has entered its third month with no solution in sight. They also came a day after caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, a key political aide to Speaker Nabih Berri, said the three major hurdles blocking the government’s formation – namely the representation of the Christian and Druze communities as well as Sunni lawmakers not affiliated with Hariri’s Future Movement – have not yet been resolved, casting gloom on hope of any imminent breakthrough in the deadlock. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah weighed in on the Cabinet formation crisis by calling for continued talks among rival political leaders to break the impasse. “We hope that the dialogue will lead to the formation of the government. We insist on dialogue and we stress [the need] to avoid street [protests]. We affirm extreme keenness on security, which is the most precious thing we have in Lebanon,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech Tuesday night marking the 12th anniversary of Israel’s 2006 War on Lebanon. “Put street [protests] aside and let’s continue with dialogue,” he added, addressing a huge Hezbollah rally held at a complex in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Nasrallah was clearly referring to caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, who threatened last week to resort to street protests by FPM supporters as a means of putting pressure on Hariri to speed up the formation of the government. Nasrallah, who has previously called for the formation of a national unity government comprising all the political parties, said if there were people inside or outside Lebanon betting that “regional changes would affect the government’s formation, they are mistaken.”For his part, Berri said he was waiting for the outcome of Hariri’s consultations with various leaders on the government formation crisis before making his own contacts with “those concerned to help in overcoming some internal obstacles related to [Cabinet] shares and their distribution.” “Despite the positive atmosphere that prevailed and the ongoing contacts, nothing tangible has so far been achieved,” Berri was quoted as saying by visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence. “But these contacts will go on. Responses from some political parties are being awaited. In addition, there is the need for the prime minister-designate to continue his steps.” A source familiar with the issue ruled out the formation of the government this month due to religious holidays, like Assumption Day Wednesday and the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha next week. Earlier in the day, Hariri, speaking to reporters before chairing the weekly meeting of the Future Movement’s parliamentary bloc at his Downtown Beirut residence, said: “We are a country with economic problems, surrounded by regional crises. We should form a government as soon as possible, but it must be an all-embracing national consensus government, in which all parties participate according to our political agreement with them.” “If one party believes that it will enter the government to obstruct another party’s [plans], this would be its biggest mistake, and it would bring us back to previous governments that were supposed to be national unity governments but were not,” he said. Hariri stressed that the government work should be based on cooperation among all parties in order to advance the country. “Otherwise, we will create a problem inside the Cabinet.” Referring to some parties’ unyielding positions on their Cabinet shares, Hariri said: “There is no doubt that some parties are still insisting on their conditions, but today we are witnessing minor concessions from all parties. We may need little more time to reach a final [Cabinet] formula. There is some progress on the subject of portfolios and shares, but this needs some time.” Hariri was referring to the Lebanese Forces’ insistence on being granted a sovereign ministry among the four ministerial portfolios it was offered in the proposed solution to the problem of Christian representation. Similarly, the problem of Druze representation stems mainly from insistence by former MP Walid Joumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, on naming the three ministers reserved for the Druze sect in a 30-member government. Joumblatt’s demand is aimed at preventing his Druze rival, MP Talal Arslan, from being named a minister. Hariri is set to hold separate meetings with Joumblatt and LF leader Samir Geagea this week in an attempt to narrow differences over the problems of the Christian and Druze representation. He will also hold another meeting with Bassil, the second in less than a week, before the FPM leader leaves for Moscow at the weekend for talks with Russian officials on the Russian proposal for returning Syrian refugees to their home country. Bassil has been at the center of a bitter struggle between the FPM and the LF over Cabinet shares for the Christian community. Hariri said he will visit President Michel Aoun when he has “something tangible” concerning a draft Cabinet lineup to present to him. Hariri said the LF has rejected the offer of four key ministries, insisting on either the post of deputy prime minister or a sovereign portfolio. “We need to find a way out that makes everyone a winner in the formation of the government. If the government setup suggests that there is a loser and a winner, it will be an obstacle for its work. I want to form a government where everyone feels that he got the share he deserves,” he added. Asked to comment on demands by some parties to include the normalization of relations with the Syrian regime in the government’s policy statement as a precondition for the formation, Hariri, who opposes any contacts with the regime, said: “Then the government will not be formed. This is very clear.” Hariri briefed the Future bloc on the contacts he had last week with Berri and Bassil, as well as the ongoing consultations with other political parties concerned with facilitating the government’s formation. “The bloc expressed its satisfaction with the path adopted by Prime Minister Hariri to reach a governmental formula that achieves the rules of partnership required for the current stage,” a statement issued after the bloc’s meeting said.