Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri on Tuesday blamed the Iran-backed Hezbollah for what he called a "big obstacle" in efforts to form a new government, indicating there could be no solution if it did not back down.
Hezbollah, has been pressing a demand for one of six Sunni Muslim lawmakers allied to it to get a cabinet position. Hariri has refused to give up one of the seats allocated for his mainly Sunni party.
"The truth is that government formation has hit a big obstacle," he told a televised news conference in Beirut, six months after a parliamentary election that triggered complex negotiations to form a government.
A new government must be formed before any moves can be made towards fiscal reforms, which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in June are needed immediately to improve debt sustainability in Lebanon. Reforms would also unlock more than US$11 billion of donor funding.
