Member of the Strong Lebanon Bloc, MP Eddie Maloof, stated that negotiating with the appointed Prime Minister Saad Hariri over 5 or 6 ministers out of 18 represents outright political clientelism. This undermines the government of independent specialists that Hariri advocates for.
The National News Agency reported this evening on a tweet from Maloof in which he indicated, "Hariri has demonstrated through disclosing his colored paper listing 22 ministries from all sects that the President is handling the formation issue comprehensively and according to Article 53 of the Constitution." Maloof emphasized that Hariri’s negotiation for 5 or 6 ministers from the total of 18 amounts to clientelism and directly contradicts the independent specialists' government that Hariri seeks to form, stating, "He has revealed himself."
The media office of the presidency considered that the appointed Prime Minister Saad Hariri is attempting to impose new norms outside the boundaries of the Constitution and the National Pact by exploiting the memory of his father, the late President Rafik Hariri's assassination. On the 16th anniversary of Rafik Hariri's assassination, Saad Hariri mentioned: "I met with President Michel Aoun 16 times, during the second meeting he provided me with a list of names, and later I submitted a list of 18 specialized ministers, which does not include a blocking third, and I will not retract preventing a blocking third."
Hariri rejected accusations of "violating Christian rights," showcasing all the facilitation he offered President Aoun in selecting names for ministerial positions, referring to their last meeting two days earlier, questioning: "Where is the violation of presidential powers or the Christian rights, God forbid?" He reaffirmed that "Christian rights are simply the rights of all Lebanese, and without a government, reforms, and a change in the method of work, there are no rights for any Lebanese."
