BEIRUT, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib has said he does not want to deviate from his mission of forming a government of specialist ministers, a source close to him said on Thursday, as efforts to form the new cabinet continue to flounder.
France has been leaning on Lebanese politicians to form a new government and embark on reforms to dig the country out of a deep financial and economic crisis. But a deadline agreed with Paris passed on Tuesday without progress.
The process has been bogged down as Lebanon’s dominant Shi’ite factions, the Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, have insisted on naming Shi’ite ministers in the cabinet and said they must include the finance minister.
Political sources say Adib has been working on proposals to switch control of ministries, many of which have been held by the same factions for years.
Adib said if a government of specialist ministers could not be formed to implement reforms then a different approach would be needed. But “this does not correspond with the mission I was tasked with,” he said, according to the source. (Writing by Ellen Francis/Tom Perry; Editing by Hugh Lawson)