An informed source told NOW on Tuesday that the prevailing optimistic atmosphere following Monday night’s meeting between Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and opposition members “hit a brick wall,” adding that Hezbollah Secretary General’s political aide, Hassan Khalil, visited with Hariri at midnight to convey Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s demand for the Economy Ministry.

According to the source, Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman  Franjieh – who is playing the role of mediator between the PM-designate and the opposition – visited Hariri earlier Monday night in downtown Beirut to inform him of Aoun’s proposal, which reportedly includes granting the Change and Reform bloc the Telecommunications and Energy ministries – the latter to be headed by Telecom Minister Gebran Bassil – along with the Culture or Tourism portfolios.

The source added that Hariri and Franjieh reached an agreement on the proposal.

However, the source said that Franjieh was seemingly “annoyed and surprised by what happened,” referring to Khalil’s visit with the PM-designate to inform him of Aoun’s “altering position.”

The source stressed that internal disagreements within the opposition are “obvious,” adding that the FPM leader is “making offers and continuously changing them.”

The source said the cabinet impasse is no longer related to the distribution of the ministerial portfolios, but to Aoun’s desire to obstruct the formation process.

-NOW Lebanon