Salam Says Riyadh Rejects Meddling in Cabinet Formation

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam said he has been informed that Saudi Arabia rejects the interference in his efforts to come up with a new government.

“The official Saudi stance that I have been informed of is the non-interference in the cabinet formation and leaving it to the wisdom of the Lebanese,” Salam told As Safir daily published Monday.

The PM-designate was likely referring to a visit that caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour, the envoy of Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat, made to Riyadh.

Jumblat has promised Salam to facilitate his mission in coming up with the cabinet line-up.

As Safir said Salam will likely form a “fait accompli” government after receiving signals that the political parties will not make concessions.

It quoted well-informed sources as saying that he informed President Michel Suleiman about the necessity to move from the stage of shares into the phase of choosing the appropriate persons who will be handed the portfolios.

“It is time for the parties to provide me with the names of their candidates,” Salam allegedly told Suleiman.

The Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance holds onto the formation of a national unity cabinet in which it gets veto power. But the March 14 coalition wants a neutral government.

Jumblat, who holds the political sway, has warned that his bloc's lawmakers would not give their vote of confidence to a government that is not all-embracing.