President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM-designate Nawaf Salam met Thursday in Baabda for around two hours without managing to resolve "a dispute over the fifth Shiite minister" in the new government, media reports said.

TV networks had expected the government to be formed due to Berri's presence at the palace and the summoning of Council of Ministers Secretary-General Mahmoud Makiyyeh, who was supposed to recite the cabinet formation decrees.