Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri ended on Saturday the last day of consultations with parliamentary blocs to form of a new government.
Hariri first met with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party MP Asaad Hardan who said that the party is entitled of a main ministerial portfolio.
“The government should put the economic and social issues on top of its priorities,” Hardan told reporters.
"Reforms start with the drafting of a new electoral law that gives apt representation for Lebanese people," he also added.
Then, Hariri met with MP Emile Rahme who asserted that he did not ask for a ministerial portfolio, adding that he wished for the formation of a national unity government.
For its part, the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc held talks with Hariri whereby MP Mohammad Raad asserted that it was agreed to follow a mechanism for the distribution of portfolios.
“We reiterated the need to address the living conditions of the Lebanese people and to improve the security situation in addition to the necessity to draft an electoral law that provides apt representation,” he added.
Meanwhile, Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya MP Mohammed Hout said: “We would like to be represented in the cabinet. I expressed our hopes that the ministerial statement begins with the Baabda declaration and the oath of office of President Michel Aoun.”
For his part, MP Robert Ghanem said: “I have asked Hariri to form a national unity government that restores confidence in the Lebanese state and its institutions.”
In turn, MP Michel Pharaon voiced hopes after meeting Hariri that the government would be formed soon, adding that there is no sovereign ministerial portfolio.
"Ministries should be open to everyone," he added.
For his part, MP Serge Torsarkisian said that “this government should be productive. Power resides in the President and the PM, not in the ministers.”
This as MP Ahmad Fatfat said after holding talks with Hariri that the ministerial statement should focus on the International resolutions, noting that the Minieh Donieh and Akkar districts must be represented by a service related ministerial portfolio.
As for MP Dory Chamoun, he met with Hariri and left without giving any statement.
For its part, the Future bloc voiced hopes that the formation of a new cabinet would be quick, stressing the necessity that the formed government “should be able to work as a harmonious team.”