The media office of the Presidency stated that the Prime Minister-designate, Saad Hariri, is trying, through the formation of the government, to impose new practices that go beyond the rules, the constitution, and the national pact.
The National News Agency reported a statement issued by the media office at the presidency clarifying that the Prime Minister-designate, Saad Hariri, is once again attempting to exploit the anniversary of the martyrdom of his father, President Rafik Hariri, to deliver a speech discussing the circumstances of forming the upcoming government, which included many inaccuracies and untrue statements. The statement added that the media office of the presidency is not inclined to respond in detail to Hariri's inaccuracies due to the difficulty of condensing 14 sessions into a statement.
The statement noted that what the Prime Minister-designate admitted in his speech is sufficient to confirm that he is attempting to impose new practices outside the rules, the constitution, and the national pact through the government formation. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stated on the sixteenth anniversary of the assassination of martyr President Rafik Hariri: "I met with President Michel Aoun 16 times, and in the second meeting, the president gave me a list of names. After that, I presented him with a list of 18 specialist ministers, and there is no blocking third in this formation, and I will not retract the prevention of the blocking third."
Hariri rejected the accusation of "violating the rights of Christians," presenting all the facilitation he offered to President Aoun in the context of selecting names for ministerial positions, referring to what transpired between them in their last meeting two days ago, wondering: "Where is the violation of presidential powers or against the Christians, God forbid?" He emphasized that "the rights of Christians are simply the rights of all Lebanese, and without a government, reforms, and changing the way of work, there are no rights for all Lebanese." He called for auditing all institutions from 1989 to the present.
