Report: New Govt. Solution Seeks to Appoint Karami, 'Compensate' for Hariri

Part of a suggestion to form a Cabinet of 32 ministers instead of 30, was to allocate a ministerial seat from President Michel Aoun’s share to Independent Sunni MP Faisal Karami, and to let Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri name the two extra ministers, the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily reported on Thursday.

A reliable source told the daily the proposal -aiming to ease the government formation gridlock-- calls for “naming Karami instead of the latter’s candidate Fadi al-Asayli, and that Hariri be given the right to name the two extra ministers (a Alawite and a Christian minority minister) in compensation for accepting the appointment of Karami,” he said.

Hariri’s share in a 32-minister government is hence raised from five ministers to seven, taking into consideration the minority Christian minister and the Alawiite, of his choice.

However, the source noted that Aoun, whose ministerial share in the government constitutes of 11 seats, “has not agreed on conceding a ministry from his share for a figure of the March 8 camp.”

“There is a determination from Hizbullah’s part that a minister of the six deputies, be appointed from Aoun's share,” added the source, noting that Hizbullah prefers Karami or, “if necessary, a Tripoli figure who meets approval of Katami’s allies.”

The last-minute Sunni hurdle emerged when the new government was on the verge of formation on October 29 after the Lebanese Forces accepted the portfolios that were assigned to it.

Hizbullah has insisted that the six Sunni MPs should be given a seat in the government, refraining from providing Hariri with the names of its three Shiite ministers in a bid to press him.

Hariri has rejected the demand, announcing that he’d rather step down than give the aforementioned lawmakers a seat from his own share in the government.