Lebanon Maronite Patriarch: No justification for failure to form gov’t

Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai said yesterday that “there is no real justification for not forming a government”.

Following his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Al-Rai stressed the need to form the government and overcome obstacles to that end.

“I am not mediating, I am talking to everyone; based on my role and the church’s role and out of my national position, I meet with all the Lebanese to reach a solution in the government formation file,” he added.

Due to political differences between Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and President Aoun, Hariri has been unable to form his government since October.

Hariri wants to form a government of non-partisan technocrats, and accuses Aoun of trying to obtain a third of the cabinet portfolios for his Free Patriotic Movement and his allies, including the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

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