Hariri to resume cabinet-formation deliberations |
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23 September 2009
BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri will resume stalled cabinet-formation talks on Thursday with an unusually lengthy five days of parliamentary deliberations, a statement by the Parliament’s General Secretariat said on Tuesday. “Hariri will not only discuss with parliamentary blocs the distribution of ministerial portfolios and the nomination of candidates but will also tackle the principles upon which the cabinet should be founded,” said Future Movement and caretaker Finance Minister Mohammad Shatah.
Shatah added that Hariri would not form a majority cabinet but rather a partnership one, adding that “it could be based on the 15-10-5 formula or any other structure.”
Meanwhile, Liberation and Development bloc lawmaker Anwar Khalil stressed on Tuesday that his bloc’s decision not to nominate an alternative premier-designate to Hariri was intended to eliminate the political gap between Hariri and opposition groups.
The MP added that the opposition expressed its openness to cooperate with Hariri in order to reach an agreement over a national-unity governmnet that was capable of facing future threats and challenges, particularly Israeli ones.
“The Liberation and Development bloc, headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, believes that Premier-designate Saad Hariri is the best qualified, in the current period, to form a national-unity cabinet, and we are ready to intensively cooperate with him based on the agreed-upon 15-10-5 formula,” Khalil said.
Last week, Berri’s Amal Movement MPs said they did not name Hariri because he “did not commit to form a cabinet based on the 15-10-5 formula” prior to his re-designation. Berri’s bloc had named Hariri in the first round of consultations in June.
The 15-10-5 structure grants the majority 15 ministers, the opposition 10 and President Michel Sleiman gets five seats in Cabinet, guaranteeing him the deciding votes.
Both the majority and the opposition are respectively denied absolute majority or veto power.
Opposition parties – as well Democratic Gathering bloc leader MP Walid Jumblatt – expressed their commitment to the 15-10-5 formula following Hariri’s resignation.
Following a meeting with a delegation of Amal Movement MPs, Jumblatt said on Tuesday that forming a cabinet as soon as possible serves the interests of all political parties, particularly “the resistance,” a reference to Hizbullah.
However, March 14 officials have said that it was up to the new premier-designate to decide upon the continued validity of the 15-10-5 structure, stressing the need to resume deliberations on the cabinet issue from scratch.
Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel said on Tuesday that the parliamentary majority was denied the right to form a cabinet despite winning the June 7 elections, awaiting the government’s approval by Iran and Syria.
“Instead, the opposition proposes that the victor and the vanquished in the polls be treated alike, thus any decision by the cabinet would necessitate the consensus of all parties, especially those who possess weapons and threaten to use them,” Gemayel added, a reference to Hizbullah’s arms.
Gemayel also slammed Palestinian armed groups, adding that they violated along with Hizbullah the Lebanese state’s sovereignty and its right to monopoly over weapons on its territories.
Addressing the delay in cabinet formation, Gemayel said he did not expect the formation process to conclude soon, because Iran did not “grant the opposition the green light,” as Hizbullah held Lebanon hostage by means of its weapons.
“March 14 parties do not desire a civil war, thus we remain patient and await the end of this deadlock,” Gemayel added.
Similarly, Lebanese Forces (LF) MP Antoine Zahra slammed on Tuesday Iran and Syria for obstructing the cabinet’s formation, adding that the Doha accord cannot replace the Taif Accord.
Zahra stressed that the LF proposed the formation of a technocratic government given the impossibility of forming a national-unity cabinet.
“We do not ask for a majority cabinet but rather a technocratic government that enables the majority to effectively participate in decision-making,” Zahra added.
Zahra said he expected the cabinet negotiations to continue for a long time, as regional obstacles remained, in particular the outcome of American-Iranian talks over the latter’s nuclear program.
Zahra also accused Hizbullah of threatening the majority with security incidents when Hizbullah MP Nawaf Moussawi compared the current political situation to the one that preceded the May 7 events and Sleiman’s election.
LF leader Samir Geagea is expected to declare his party’s stance regarding the cabinet issue during a rally to commemorate the anniversary of the Lebanese Resistance martyrs on Saturday.
Commenting on the president’s role, the LF leader denied that the president had imposed any conditions on Hariri, adding that Sleiman focused his efforts on reaching an agreement over a partnership cabinet.
Analysts have tied the stalemate between Hariri and his rivals to tensions between regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Syria, which have influence over Lebanese politics.
The standoff has sparked fears of a new crisis in Lebanon, which came close to civil war last year when bloody clashes broke out between pro-government and opposition supporters following the government’s decision to dismantle Hizbullah’s telecommunication network. The clashes ended with the Doha accord which, following two years of political stalemate, led to the election of Sleiman and the formation of a national-unity cabinet which granted the opposition veto power.
Batroun MP Boutros Harb of the March 14 camp said on Tuesday that the Doha accord was “unconstitutional, because it implicitly amended constitutional conventions established by the Taif Accord.”
“The Doha agreement violates Lebanon’s democratic parliamentary regime based on a majority [that governs] and a minority [that opposes],” Harb said.
Harb also stressed that a prior agreement on the distribution of portfolios between majority and opposition groups conflicted with the president’s and the premier-designate’s constitutional prerogatives, which granted both officials the right to form the cabinet.
Separately, French President Nicolas Sarkozy voiced support on Sunday for Sleiman and Hariri as they struggle to piece together a new government. Sarkozy spoke by phone with Sleiman and Hariri on Saturday.
“As a friend of Lebanon and of all the Lebanese people, France supports their efforts to give Lebanon a stable government,” a statement from the French presidency said on Sunday.
“The head of state reasserted France’s commitment to the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon,” the statement added.
Sleiman left Lebanon on Tuesday to attend the UN General Assembly session in New York.
The president is expected to hold talks with foreign officials and give a speech on Friday before returning to Beirut on Saturday.
Meanwhile, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman expressed his country’s worries over the delay in cabinet formation while stressing US support for Lebanon’s state institutions.
Alawites and Sunnis clash in Tripoli
TRIPOLI: A quarrel among children from the Alawite neighborhood of Harass al-Blat, and from the Sunni area of Haret al-Naaman in Tripoli, North Lebanon, escalated into gunfire between their clans, a security source told The Daily Star on Tuesday night.
The source added that the Lebanese Armed Forces intervened to contain the security situation and re-establish calm.
Tripoli has recently witnessed several security incidents which occasionally escalated into sectarian violence among residents of the Sunni and Alawite neighborhoods of the city. – The Daily Star
© Copyright The Daily Star 2009.
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