New Delhi, April 5 -- On March 22, President Michel Aoun of Lebanon yet again rejected the proposed Cabinet by the to-be Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. This was the 18th time that the two were unable to agree on a list of Cabinet or the Cabinet format. The political stand-off has been continuing since October last year when Saad was invited to form the government.Saad al-Hariri is sticking to a French-led initiative which comprises 18 non-partisan technocrats for the Cabinet. But President Aoun has insisted on a 20-member Cabinet which will be based on a sectarian distribution of candidates. Behind Aoun's proposal is his support for the third-plus-one veto system that will be beneficial to his party Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).

Aoun's ...