Hariri Says Won't Name Successor but May Grant Confidence to Govt.
Resigned Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Thursday blamed President Michel Aoun for the failure to form a new government, as he announced that he would not nominate a successor for the PM post.
“I nominated myself to form a government according to the French initiative, which means a government of specialists, and today I apologized for not being able to form ‘Michel Aoun’s government,’” Hariri said in a live interview on al-Jadeed TV, only a few hours after he announced his resignation as PM-designate.
“I resigned in 2019 because I wanted a government of specialists and had I formed ‘Michel Aoun's government’ I would not have been able to rescue the country,” Hariri added.
“There is camp that has decided to torture the country and take us to hell and all the obstacles that I faced were created by this camp,” the ex-PM went on to say, referring to Aoun and his party.
Noting that he quit the formation mission because Aoun “did not want to form a government,” Hariri added that “when the President decides the date of the consultations,” he would talk to his allies and “decide what to do.”
Hitting out at Aoun, the ex-PM said: “Because Saad Hariri is Sunni and patriotic, he is prohibited from naming ministers and only President Aoun has the right to nominate!”
As for the upcoming period, Hariri said “the solution is to form a government as soon as possible, whichever government it may be, but what's important is that they work on the IMF program.”
“We will not nominate anyone, but we won't obstruct nor paralyze the country, and we might grant the government our confidence if it's a good government,” Hariri added.
“I have sacrificed myself for the sake of the country,” he said.
Told that Aoun had considered him to be “like his son,” Hariri answered: “And I made him president, but this period has ended.”
“Hizbullah did not exert enough effort to form the government,” Hariri said, adding that he does not believe that the party had pressed Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil to facilitate the government’s formation.
Asked whether he "thanks the Shiite duo", Hariri said he I expressed gratitude to Speaker Nabih Berri exclusively.
“I want to thank Speaker Berri for standing by me during this period, and his main objective was the formation of the government,” Hariri added.
“There are upcoming elections and we will confront all those who opposed the French initiative,” the ex-PM went on to say.
almost 3 years
We’ve got to March on Baabda and deal with the problem.
almost 3 years
Yalla ya battal. You can't do that while being on Naharnet 24/7. (BTW what happened to your ID s.o.s.?)
almost 3 years
lol @Always Iran (Guest)
almost 3 years
We have a troll here, just ignore and don’t feed.
almost 3 years
same what happened to your ID the_roar!
almost 3 years
@pos
If you were not yourself on Naharnet 24/7, how would you know he is here 24/7?
almost 3 years
Aoun was granted 8 ministers in the line-up but he wanted a say in naming the two Christian ministers so that he and his criminal party would have veto power. Despite being allocated 8 ministers or more, he stated his party would not give a vote of confidence to the new government.
This is criminal !!!
almost 3 years
Harriri should work on winning more seats next election instead
Saad, we all know what a liar Aoun is. So, you don't have to tell us who this small man is. Anyhow, why should you care about a man who is an atheist pretending to be a Christian and more importantly has days to live as he is now 90 years old and unable to walk or even think. So, please don't bother with such people. As for Basil, he would be history when election time comes and the arena would be for those who are willing and able to fix the country. Another seven months and the country would rid itself of this Aoun and Basil together, one through death from old age and the other from corruption. Seven months would go in a whisk, so don't worry.