Lebanon First bloc MP Hadi Hobeich said while receiving a delegation at his residence in Qubayat on Sunday that “Hezbollah, not Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, is requesting the Telecommunications Ministry be included within the opposition’s share in the cabinet.”

Hobeich also said that the issue of re-appointing Aoun’s son-in-law, current Telecommunications Minister Gebran Bassil, is one of the main reasons the cabinet has not yet been formed. He added that “deliberations are ongoing to resolve these issues but we cannot guess when they will be finalized.”

Hobeich stressed, “Rumors of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stepping down reflect only wishful thinking by the opposition.”

“If the majority leader cannot form the cabinet then who can?” he asked, denying a 10-10-10 cabinet formula would be adopted instead of the previously agreed 15-5-10 formula regarding the distribution of ministers between the parliamentary majority, President Michel Sleiman and the opposition. 

-NOW Staff