Jumblat Delegates Abou Faour, his Son Taymour to Meet Hariri in Jeddah
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat delegated his son Taymour and caretaker minister Wael Abou Faour to Saudi Arabia for talks with al-Mustaqbal movement chief Saad Hariri on efforts to help line up the cabinet, the As Safir daily reported on Tuesday.
Abou Faour, Caretaker Minister of Social Affairs, and Taymour Jumblat arrived in Jeddah Monday evening for talks with ex-PM Hariri, the newspaper said.
Several members of the March 14 alliance are likely to join in the discussions taking place in Jeddah in a bid to help solve the stalemate in forming a government, the daily quoted informed sources on condition of anonymity.
PM-designate Tammam Salam, on a vacation in Switzerland, contacted Hariri for the same purpose, according to As Safir.
Salam is seeking the formation of a 24-member cabinet in which the March 8, March 14 and the centrists camps would each get eight ministers.
Salam insists to have a cabinet where he has veto power, vowing to step down if any party resigns from the cabinet.
The March 8 camp has meanwhile been demanding that it granted veto power in a new cabinet, which the premier-designate has repeatedly rejected.
The March 14 camp is calling for keeping Hizbullah away from the cabinet over its role in Syria's war.
President Michel Suleiman for his part assured that he will use his jurisdiction and accept a cabinet formula submitted by Salam if it proves to serve the nation's interest.
“If the PM-designate gave me a cabinet formula to study, and if I saw that it serves the national interest, I will not hesitate to use my jurisdiction and accept it,” the daily quoted visitors to Suleiman.
Jumblat is expected to deliver a speech on Sunday, commemorating the annual anniversary of the PSP martyrs in Aley.
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