Lebanon .. An agreement to extend the consultations and Hezbollah accuses Washington of obstructing the formation of the government

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib announced that he and President Michel Aoun agreed to give more time for consultations aimed at forming a new government, at a time when Hezbollah accused the United States of obstructing its formation.

Adeeb said in a brief statement he made today, Thursday, shortly after his meeting with Aoun at the Baabda Palace, that they had agreed to wait a little to allow more consultations, but he stressed in return that the Lebanese do not have the luxury of time.

He added that he is counting on everyone's cooperation in order to form an important government in accordance with the French initiative, referring to the initiative announced by French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Beirut on August 31, regarding the need to form a government of competencies whose priority is to implement urgent reforms to pull Lebanon out of its economic and financial crisis. That was exacerbated by the devastating explosion of Beirut port on the 4th of last month.

It was expected that Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib would meet with President Michel Aoun yesterday to brief him on the progress of the consultations, but the meeting was postponed to today amid disputes mainly related to the distribution of ministerial portfolios.

Yesterday, the 15-day deadline that Macron set for Lebanese politicians to form a government of specialists expired, but the French presidency said that it is not too late to accomplish the task that is fraught with many complexities internally and externally, as the formation of a government in Lebanon is subject to sectarian, regional and international balances.

Intensive contacts

and the last hours witnessed

political contacts to overcome the obstacles that prevent the announcement of the government, as the Amal Movement and Hezbollah insist on obtaining the Ministry of Finance and naming the Shiite ministers, while the Prime Minister-designate, Mustafa Adib, insists on forming a non-partisan government and rotating bags between sects.

A source close to Adeeb quoted him as saying that he does not want to deviate from the task of forming a government of specialists.

In a statement issued after the meeting of his parliamentary bloc today and followed by the deputy, Hezbollah announced its refusal to have any party nominate the ministers who represent it in the government, and also refused to place a ban on receiving the component to which the Ministry of Finance portfolio belongs.

The statement stressed the importance of the French initiative to form a government, and held the US administration responsible for obstructing efforts to form it.

And former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said yesterday in a tweet on Twitter that the Finance Ministry and all other portfolios are not an exclusive right for any sect, and that the refusal to rotate the bags over the sects is a violation of the last chance to save Lebanon.

Concurrently, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt considered the efforts led by France to extricate Lebanon from the crisis as the last chance to save the country, echoing Paris’s warning that Lebanon faces the risk of disappearing unless it undertakes the required reforms, which have become a condition set by Western countries to help Lebanon.

It was reported that the Lebanese Prime Minister-designate tends to submit his resignation in the absence of a breakthrough in the formation of the government.