The Free Patriotic Movement, the largest Christian bloc in Lebanon, warned Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Saturday against marginalizing President Michel Aoun and other parliamentary blocs in negotiations related to forming the government, while dozens of protesters demonstrated today near the presidential headquarters in Beirut to demand the departure of the ruling class and the formation of a transitional government Independent.

The Political Council of the Free Movement, headed by Gebran Bassil, who is President Aoun's son-in-law, said in a statement that it warns of "the danger of the exclusionary trend that the country of the designated president is taking in its dealings with the president of the republic and with the relevant parliamentary blocs."

A dispute has been going on for months between Hariri, Aoun and his political movement regarding the formation of the government, as Hariri says that the Free Patriotic Movement is trying to dictate who holds the cabinet seats so that he has the right to veto decisions.

Future Movement

The Future Movement, led by Hariri, responded to the criticism of the Free Movement, and said in a statement that it does not understand the fact that Bassil considers the president's political decision to be a "seal on his finger." The Future Movement said that its priority is still forming a government of specialists not affiliated with parties to stop the financial collapse of the country .

Saad Hariri has been tasked with forming a government since last October 22, following the apology of his predecessor, Mustafa Adib, for the failure of his mission to form a government in a country where local political forces and the interests of regional and Western countries are struggling.

Hariri wants to form a government of technocrats, and accuses Aoun of trying to obtain for his party (the Free Patriotic Movement and its allies, including Hezbollah) a "blocking third," which the president denies.

And the "blocking third" means that a political faction obtains a third of the number of ministerial portfolios, which allows it to control its decisions and suspend its meetings.

On Monday, the 18th meeting between Hariri and Aoun did not achieve any tangible results with regard to resolving the crisis in forming the government. Rather, the two parties exchanged accusations of being responsible for obstructing its formation.

Lebanon is going through a deep political and financial crisis that poses the greatest threat to its stability since the civil war that raged between 1975 and 1990.

New protest

In this context, dozens of protesters demonstrated today in Beirut, where they set out in the afternoon in a march from the Chevrolet area towards the Presidential Palace in Baabda, south of the capital, to demand the departure of the ruling class and the formation of an independent transitional government. Beirut, which occurred in early August.

The protesters see that President Aoun is one of the components of the ruling system, and they demanded his resignation, as well as early parliamentary elections that would restore power, and they expressed their lack of confidence in the Prime Minister-designate Hariri to form a government.

The Lebanese army imposed a security cordon and prevented the demonstrators from approaching the presidential palace further, without any confrontations taking place.