Syria News Wire

According to Sami Moubayed, this is how the 30 posts will be divided up:

15 for Saad Al-Hariri’s ruling March 14 coalition.

10 for the Hizbollah-led March 8 opposition.

5 assigned by the (neutral) President Michel Sleiman.

That means the opposition seems to lose its power to veto important decisions, because it will have less than one-third plus one.

But here’s the trick: one of Michel Sleiman’s seats will be a Shia, loyal to the opposition, but chosen by Sleiman. That way, the opposition has only nominated 10 cabinet members.

Here’s how it works out:

PRESIDENT MICHEL SLEIMAN’S NEUTRAL FIVE:

Minister of Interior (Ziad Baroud stays in this post – who was commended for running a successful election)

Minister of Defence (Elias al-Murr stays in this post)

3 Ministers without portfolio (1 Sunni, 1 Shia, 1 Christian)

THE OPPOSITION’S TEN SEATS

Amal gets 3 seats: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Health and Industry.

Hizbollah gets 2.

FPM (Michel Aoun) gets 5.

MARCH 14′s FIFTEEN SEATS

Mustaqbal gets 5.

Walid Jumblatt gets 3 (including Minister of Information).

Samir Jaja gets 2: Minister of Public Works and Minister of Social Affairs.

Amin Gemayel gets 2.

That leaves 3 more to be assigned. A formal announcement is expected later today.

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