Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam arrived on Saturday at the Baabda presidential palace to meet with President Joseph Aoun to discuss the latest developments in the negotiations for the formation of the new government.

According to L’Orient-Le Jour, Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri is also expected at Baabda.

This marks the third time in three days that Mr. Salam has visited Baabda, following two unsuccessful attempts to validate his government proposal, which mainly stalled over the nomination of a personality for the fifth ministry designated for Shiites. Both Mr. Aoun and Mr. Salam insist on proposing a name for this position themselves.

On Thursday, the head of the legislative body and leader of the Amal movement, Nabih Berri, rejected the name proposed by the President and the Prime Minister-designate, causing the failure of a meeting where the announcement of the new cabinet seemed imminent. A second name, that of Nasser Saïdi, former Minister of Economy and Trade, was accepted by Mr. Berri on Friday, who is negotiating on behalf of the Shiite duo Hezbollah-Amal. However, Mr. Saïdi himself rejected the position.

According to information circulating in local media, an agreement has now been reached around the figure of Raëd Charafeddine, former first deputy governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon.