Report: Efforts Underway to Convince Hariri to Lead New Govt.

After the proposed nomination of Mohammed Safadi for the PM post was dropped under popular and political pressure, there is inclination to task caretaker PM Saad Hariri with forming the new government, ministerial sources close to the Presidency said.

“The formula under which he might return to the post is being discussed,” the sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday.

And as sources close to Hariri said he is still insisting on the formation of a technocrat cabinet as a precondition for returning to the post, the ministerial sources noted that there are efforts to convince the caretaker PM of a format that he has recently rejected.

The proposed solution calls for the formation of a government in which the four so-called sovereign portfolios – defense, interior, foreign affairs and finance – would be held by political figures. The rest of portfolios would go to technocrats.