Mustaqbal Movement issued a strongly-worded statement, in which it attacked the Lebanese Forces party and the Free Patriotic Movement. “The country stands at a critical crossroads that threatens to bring the direst consequences as a result of the race to score political points in one direction or another,” the statement said, after the two parties refused to nominate caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri to head the new government. There is an “intersection of interests” between the two parties, Mustqabal noted. It added that some parties “have sought, throughout two months, to discredit the post-October 17 events before eventually announcing that they were an inseparable part of the protest movement and revolution.” The movement condemned attempts to “besiege the prime minister’s post and breach the constitutional norms in the designation of premiers.” “Mustaqbal Movement is clearly not awaiting any nomination for PM Hariri from the FPM or the LF, and it does not accept that the premiership post be turned into a ball thrown around by some movements and parties,” the statement said. “The premiership post is bigger than all these heresies and it will not be a hostage held to anyone no matter how influential they might be,” it added. In response, Baabda’s Presidential Office on Monday said that President Michel Aoun did not need constitutional “lessons” from anyone. “Claims that the Free Patriotic Movement bloc intended to cede its votes to the President are mere fabrications and a prejudgment that preceded the binding parliamentary consultations that the president intended to conduct today,” the Presidency’s press office said in a statement. “The president, who is entrusted with the constitution, does not need lessons from anyone in this regard,” the statement noted. The FPM, on the other hand, called for a swift formation of a rescue government and urged Hariri to choose a reliable name for the premiership.