Suleiman Holds onto Interior Ministry Amid Sign that Appointments Are Among Cabinet Obstacles

President Michel Suleiman reportedly is still holding onto the interior ministry portfolio as part of his share in the new government but could agree that a personality other than Ziad Baroud heads the ministry, media reports said Saturday.

An Nahar daily said that Suleiman won’t give up the portfolio “at all” but might not hold onto Baroud who headed the ministry in Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri’s cabinet.

Sources involved in the government formation efforts said the new development could push for progress in Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s mission particularly after the aides of the speaker and the Hizbullah leader respectively MP Ali Hassan Khalil and Hussein Khalil met with Suleiman and then held talks with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.

MP Khalil told As Safir daily that the meeting with the president was aimed at bridging the gap between him and Aoun who is also asking for the portfolio as part of his share.

According to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, Suleiman informed the envoys of Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that he would nominate three candidates for the interior ministry portfolio and allow Miqati, the FPM leader and other major parties to choose the person they see most fit for the post.

The president also told MP Khalil and Hussein Khalil that Baroud could be tasked with heading a ministry other than the interior ministry, al-Liwaa newspaper said. He suggested former Brig. Gen. Paul Matar or retired Brig. Gen. Nabil Ghafri to replace Baroud.

Meanwhile, An Nahar quoted March 8 officials as saying that appointments of employees to top government posts that are pending for years are one of the reasons behind the cabinet deadlock.

They said the FPM, backed by Hizbullah, is pressuring Miqati into striking a deal on the appointments before forming the government. The alleged agreement consists of giving Aoun’s party the right to name the Christian candidates for the post.