Najib Mikati, the Prime Minister-designate, boldly visited the Baabda Palace yesterday, less than 24 hours after the non-binding talks, equipped with a line-up he drafted in night to present over to the President of the Republic the next morning.

The formation of the 24 is a revised version of the caretaker government grafted with new ministers, and it is now in the hands of President Aoun. It may be difficult to predict the nature of the next step on the path to the birth of a new government before standing up to the reaction of the dear brother-in-law Bassil, especially since the amendment affected the energy portfolio, which was assigned to Walid Senno rather than Walid Fayyad!

Mikati, on the other hand, did not follow the principle of comprehensive rotation, as the Ministry of Finance remained within the Shiite community’s quota, with the suggestion of the name Yassin Jaber instead of Youssef Khalil, implying that it remained confined to the president-close designate’s team…

Will the commitment that a specific portfolio, such as energy, be withdrawn from the president’s team be accepted? And do other portfolios, such as finance and interior, stay under the control of a single team? Some saw the release of the proposed cabinet lineup as a purposeful attempt to disrupt the formation process.

After all of this, the tragedy is that the country bears the consequences of arrogant and deceptive practices…