Lebanon will have a new government within seven-ten days and the economy cannot withstand any more delay, Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said on Thursday.
Since a parliamentary election in May, political wrangling has prevented Lebanon from forming a national unity government, raising concerns in a country with one of the world's highest rates of public debt.
"The economic situation is very difficult...[it] can't bear political disputes," Hariri said in an interview on a prime-time television show on Thursday night. "There are solutions, which [President Michel Aoun] and I have discussed."
However, the leader of one of Lebanon's main Christian parties said on Friday he didn't want to create "artificial optimism" about a breakthrough in talks over a new government, a day after Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said one would be formed soon.
In the five months since the May vote, Hariri has expressed optimism several times about a near breakthrough. Key parties in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system have jostled over ministries, as foreign donors urged avoiding any more delay and Lebanese politicians warned of economic crisis.
