NNA - "Kataeb" Parliamentary bloc member, Deputy Elie Marouni, explained on Thursday that a new consensus cabinet might be an alternative to a dialogue table.



Marouni expected the President of the Republic, Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister-designate, Tammam Salam, to form a new cabinet during the current month.



Marouni stressed the need to form a new cabinet to accompany the latest security developments and manage the transitional stage until the Presidential elections deadline, adding that the outgoing cabinet could not perform such a mission any longer.



Commenting on Speaker Nabih Berri's words that a neutral cabinet would not acquire the Parliament's confidence, Marouni confirmed to Al-Fajr radio that "all proposed formulas, including 6-9-9 formula, will not gain confidence nor will any cabinet in which March 8 doesn't enjoy the one-third veto."



Marouni described Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Rai's latest words as an advice to the President of the Republic and Prime Minister-designate not to form a new cabinet that would increase the political tension, pointing out that the cabinet formation is not a threat, but a constitutional duty that Sleiman and Salam should fulfill.



Commenting on March 8 response if a cabinet were formed, the Lawmaker stressed that the current status could not be maintained and a new cabinet would eventually be formed.



"We would not allow them to disrupt coexistence in Lebanon," Marouni concluded.



===N.AF/L.Y.R