Aoun to help form unity government in Lebanon

beirut — Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Tuesday he was intervening in stalled efforts to form a new national unity government, warning the country faced “catastrophe” if this failed.

More than six months since an election, efforts to form the new cabinet led by Prime Ministerdesignate Saad Al Hariri are still logjammed with rival groups vying for cabinet posts.

Aoun said the challenges in the government formation could not be resolved “the traditional way” between the prime minister-designate and the other parties, and it was his duty to get involved.

“The risks are greater than we can bear,” he said, in an apparent reference to difficulties facing the heavily indebted Lebanese economy.

“We are launching an initiative ... and it has to succeed, because if it doesn’t ... there is a catastrophe, we want to say it with all frankness, and this is the reason for my intervention,” Aoun said in a televised news conference.

Aoun held separate meetings with Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Agreement over the make-up of the new cabinet has met a series of obstacles as Hariri has sought to forge a deal parcelling out 30 cabinet posts among rival groups according to a sectarian political system. The final hurdle has been over Sunni representation, with Hezbollah demanding a cabinet seat for one of its Sunni allies who gained ground in the election. —