Date: Dec 13, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Hariri awaiting results of Aoun govt initiative BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri said Wednesday he was awaiting the results of the government formation consultations led by President Michel Aoun. Hariri’s comments came to reporters on the sidelines of the Lebanon-U.K. Business and Investment Forum in London. “President Aoun is following up and all Lebanese people appreciate what he is doing ... hopefully these contacts will develop and lead to positive results,” Hariri said. “I sensed a positive atmosphere today and we will always stay positive for the sake of the country.” The premier-designate was referring to the latest round of consultations that he launched this week to break the government formation deadlock. Government formation, now entering its seventh month, is held up by the demand of six-Hezbollah backed Sunni MPs not affiliated with Hariri’s Future Movement to be represented in the new government. Their demand, which has been firmly rejected by Hariri, reemerged in late October just as the premier-designate was preparing to announce a 30-member Cabinet lineup. “Government formation should’ve happened earlier. I am ready; the names are ready and the distribution of the ministerial portfolios is ready and everyone knows where the obstruction is coming from,” Hariri said, referring to Hezbollah. There have been several proposals floated to resolve the government crisis, including expanding the Cabinet from 30 ministers to a 32-member government, as well as a suggestion of reducing it to 24 ministers. Local media outlets reported Wednesday that another proposal suggests the establishment of an 18-member Cabinet. “All suggestions are good. The country needs a government, period,” Hariri said. Pro-Hezbollah Sunni MPs say no govt solution in sight BEIRUT: A group of six Hezbollah-backed Sunni MPs poured cold water on the optimism that prevailed Wednesday regarding a potential government formation breakthrough, after meeting with President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace. One of the MPs, Walid Sukkarieh, said in televised remarks that there was no solution in sight, because "Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri appeared to be adamant on his stances not to represent” the group in the upcoming Cabinet. The MPs held talks with Aoun as part of the president’s consultations aimed at breaking the government formation deadlock, according to the presidency’s Twitter account. These six Sunni MPs not affiliated with Hariri’s Future Movement are asking to be represented in the upcoming government by one minister. Their demand, which has been firmly by rejected Hariri, reemerged in late October just as the premier-designate was preparing to announce a 30-member Cabinet lineup. Aoun launched his latest round of consultations Monday, meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri. He continued his talks with a Hezbollah delegation Tuesday. Prior to his meeting with the six pro-Hezbollah MPs, the president announced Wednesday that he expected his talks to yield results “in the next few days.” “We have worked on resolving the government formation crisis,” Aoun was quoted as saying in the statement released by his office. Earlier in the day, he received a delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party’s Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc, led by MP Teymour Joumblatt. “We appreciate the president’s positions and we underscore our positive relationship with him,” Joumblatt said after the meeting, according to tweets published on the president's account. Caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil also struck an upbeat tone over the formation of a new government, in a speech at the Lebanon-U.K. Business and Investment Forum in London. “The partnership between the president and prime minister-designate will definitely lead to the formation a new government, despite the obstacles,” Bassil said. “This indicates that [Lebanon] is heading towards a new phase of prosperity.” Berri optimistic there will be govt breakthrough BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday that he was optimistic there would be a breakthrough in the government formation, an MP quoted the speaker as saying during his weekly meeting with lawmakers. Speaking to reporters from Berri’s Ain al-Tineh residence, Amal Movement MP Ali Bazzi said that “Berri is optimistic and has expressed flexibility to facilitate the formation of a new government.” President Michel Aoun this week launched a new round of consultations aimed at breaking the government formation deadlock, which has entered its seventh month. Addressing the lawmakers, Berri said he hoped that Aoun's consultations would lead to the formation of a government. "We need a harmonious government to carry out its responsibilities on all levels," he was quoted as saying. There have been several proposals floated to resolve the crisis, including expanding the Cabinet from 30 ministers to a 32-member government. Local media outlets reported Wednesday that another proposal suggests the establishment of an 18-member Cabinet. Caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, a top political aide to Berri, said after the meeting at Ain al-Tineh that this "was not proposed to us [Amal Movement]," according to reports. Hariri meets Prince Charles on sidelines of UK investment forum BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri Wednesday held a meeting with U.K.’s Prince Charles at the latter’s London residence on the sidelines of the Lebanon-U.K. Business and Investment Forum. A statement from Hariri’s office said the two held a “general” discussion. Hariri is in the U.K. along with a high-level delegation of Lebanese officials to attend the forum, which opened Wednesday and aims to showcase Lebanon’s investment opportunities abroad. In addition to delivering the keynote address at the conference, Hariri sponsored an agreement between the British automobile firm Rolls Royce and Lebanon’s Middle Eastern Airlines, and met with a number of British officials.