Lebanon's Hariri will not form cabinet catering to president's wishes

FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said on Saturday he will not form a cabinet that simply caters to President Michel Aoun's wishes. /Xinhua

Lebanon's prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said on Saturday he will not form a cabinet that simply caters to President Michel Aoun's wishes.

"I will not form a government as the team of his Excellency the President wants it, nor any other political faction. I will only form the kind of government needed to stop collapse and prevent the big crash that is threatening the Lebanese," Hariri told a parliament session on Saturday.

Hariri said that a letter of complaint from President Aoun to parliament was an attempt to withdraw his nomination for prime minister. He said this political attack was the result of his refusal to bow to Mr Aoun's demands over the makeup of a new administration.

"For seven months, we have given the [prime minister]-designate an impossible task: Either the government is formed as the president's political team wants it, impersonating the will of his excellency and claiming that he has no demands, or there is no government," Hariri added.

Speaking after the session, Hariri described the letter from President Aoun as an attempt to deflect attention for the repeated failures to form a government.

Read out to parliament on Friday, President Aoun's letter complained "It has become evident that the prime minister-designate is unable to form a government capable of salvation and meaningful contact with foreign financial institutions, international funds, and donor countries".

(With input from agencies)