Newspaper: Formation of Lebanese Gov't Needs Miracle

A Lebanese newspaper revealed the fate of the formation of the Lebanese government after Lebanese President Michel Aoun rejected the new government formation submitted by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri. 

Hariri’s suggested formation includes 18 ministers after months of quarrels that prevented agreement on a new government.

The Lebanese newspaper Al-Gomhuriya quoted sources as saying that "the recent clash between Aoun and Hariri seems as the final attempt for reaching a line of understanding on a government formation. Whatever the shape and size of this cabinet.”

"The two sides’ agreement requires a miracle. Each of them has set its ceiling alone and decided not to subject to the other’s dictates,” the sources added.

Hariri had pledged, upon his selection as prime minister for the fourth time, last October, to quickly form a government that would be able to revive the French Road Map.

But the old political differences have impeded the talks to form the government at a time when the country is heading towards what United Nations agencies warn that it will be a "social disaster".

The economic collapse has led to the fall of at least half of the population into poverty, in addition to the collapse of the national currency (the Lebanese pound), especially after the Beirut Port incident last August, which killed more than 200 people and destroyed large sectors of the capital.