<p>BEIRUT — Talks on the formation of a new Cabinet in Lebanon collapsed Monday, heralding more economic and financial collapse for the small Arab country. </p>
<p>Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri made the announcement following a short meeting with President Michel Aoun — a last-ditch effort at repairing a rift that has impeded formation of a government tasked with halting the country’s rapid economic collapse. Hariri placed the blame squarely on Aoun for the months-long delay, accusing him of insisting on acquiring veto power for his allies in the new government. </p>
<p>Hariri, who was tasked by Aoun to form a Cabinet in October after he was named by a majority of lawmakers, is seeking to form a Cabinet of technocrats, or non-partisan specialists, while Aoun has asked for an expanded Cabinet of at least 20 ministers. </p>
<p>Hariri said Aoun sent him a proposed list of Cabinet ministers, with veto power given to his alliance, asking him to simply sign off on the names. He said he rejected that request as unconstitutional.</p>
<p>“The prime minister-designate’s job is not to fill in lists from anyone, and it is not the job of the president to form a government,” Hariri said.</p>
<p>Aoun’s office strongly denied the claim that the president sent Hariri a list with names, suggesting that Hariri did not wish to form a government for reasons that have nothing to do with its make-up. </p>
<p>Aoun was elected to a six-year term by parliament in 2016 after Lebanon had been nearly two years without a president. He is an ally of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. Hariri, who has worked closely with Hezbollah before, is locked in a power struggle with Aoun’s political party and is under pressure to exclude Hezbollah from a future Cabinet.</p>
<p>The economic and financial crisis roiling Lebanon is the gravest threat to its stability since the 15-year civil war ended in 1990.</p>
<p>The country’s local currency has been in a free fall since late 2019, losing over 90% of its value. The government defaulted on its foreign debt last year and nearly half the population has been pushed into poverty and unemployment.</p>
<p>Prices of basic goods have increased and inflation has soared. Banks have imposed informal controls on people’s savings, and the Central Bank’s foreign reserves have shrunk in a country dependent on imports.</p>
<p>The outgoing government resigned last August, following a massive explosion at Beirut’s port that killed 211 people, wounded more than 6,000 and damaged entire neighborhoods in the capital.</p>
