Hopes that a new government will be formed soon have disappeared in light of the recent contacts and meetings regarding the formation, reported the daily An Nahar Friday.

It appears that matters have returned to square one, especially given the fragile trust between Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati announced on Thursday after meeting President Michel Suleiman that the two agreed to give themselves more time before revealing the new government.

He said after the meeting at Baabda Palace: “After consulting with the President, we decided to wait in order for the government to live up to the Lebanese people’s expectations.”

President Michel Suleiman voiced his concern on Wednesday over the ongoing vacuum in Lebanon given the failure to form a new government.

His visitors reported him as saying that the stalling in the formation process will harm the Lebanese’s interests, especially given the unstable situation in the region, reported the daily Al-Mustaqbal Thursday.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati won’t give up his task of forming the new government despite the latest surprising stance made by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and more crippling demands by other March 8 members, Miqati’s sources told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

“There was an agreement to hold meetings between some leaders including a meeting between Aoun and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah … but some surprising political stances … shattered the atmosphere of optimism,” the sources said in remarks published Thursday.

The March 14 camp believed that Michel Suleiman’s election as president would “embarrass” Hizbullah and harm Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday.

The November 4, 2007, WikiLeaks cable spoke of a meeting between the head of the Mustaqbal movement Saad Hariri and then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Feltman during which the former informed him that the March 14 camp had not reached an agreement over a presidential candidate, less than a month before then President Emile Lahoud’s term was scheduled to end.

The United States initially opposed Michel Suleiman’s election as president, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Wednesday.

The October 16, 2007, WikiLeaks cable spoke of a meeting between then Army Commander Michel Suleiman and then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman during which the former rejected claims that he was a “Syrian agent”, voicing fears over what Damascus had in store for Lebanon.

President Michel Suleiman rejected over the weekend a draft cabinet lineup proposed by Premier-designate Najib Miqati but media reports said Tuesday that discussions have made progress and are now centered on the distribution of portfolios and names of candidates.

Suleiman had remarks on the lineup that Miqati proposed to him on Saturday night during a meeting held at Baabda palace away from the media spotlight, As Safir daily said Tuesday.

President Michel Suleiman urged the country’s politicians to fully implement the Taef Accord lamenting that the constitution was transformed into a mechanism of division of shares.

“We haven’t yet been able to form a modern state that protects itself and watches over the interests of its citizens,” Suleiman told An Nahar daily in remarks published Tuesday on the eve of the 36th anniversary of the Lebanese civil war.

Meetings and consultations have taken place away from the media spotlight to guarantee the success of the contacts over the government formation, revealed informed sources.

They told the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Monday that “pivotal” meetings over the formation are scheduled to take place in the next 24 hours.

France informed President Michel Suleiman that he has a pivotal role in guaranteeing a balance of power between the different political factions in the country, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported Sunday.

Informed French sources told the newspaper that President Nicolas Sarkozy sent a letter to his Lebanese counterpart with his envoy Patrice Paoli, stressing that Paris considers Suleiman a “guarantor of institutions.”