Ekip
19 December 2018•Update: 19 December 2018
By Wassim Saif al-Din
BEIRUT
Well-informed political sources on Wednesday said Lebanon’s long-awaited cabinet lineup would finally be unveiled -- following months of political wrangling -- late Friday or early Saturday.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media, the sources said the official announcement of the new cabinet lineup was awaiting the return to Lebanon of MP Faisal Karami.
One of six Sunni MPs allied with Hezbollah, Karami is expected to arrive in Lebanon on Friday “in order to resolve several outstanding issues”, according to one source.
Under the 1989 Taif Accord, which ended Lebanon’s destructive civil war (1975-1989), cabinet portfolios are shared between the country’s main ethno-religious groupings, with six portfolios reserved for Sunnis, six for Shias and three for Druze.
Ever since Lebanon held parliamentary polls on May 6, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has struggled to draw up a new government.
The process, however, has faced repeated delays and mutual recriminations between Lebanon’s main political forces and demands by certain parties for more representation in the upcoming government.
According to the Lebanese constitution, the prime minister-designate does not have a deadline for unveiling the new cabinet lineup.
