Lebanon’s Hariri refuses joining Hezbollah-led govt

BEIRUT (Agencies)

Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday ruled out joining a government led by a
Hezbollah-appointed candidate, his office said, as consultations on nominating a new premier were underway. “The (Hariri-led) Future Movement announces its refusal to participate in a government headed by a candidate named by the opposition,” the statement said, referring to Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies. The statement came as former premier Najib Mikati was tipped as the top candidate for premiership after he secured the backing of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which brought down the government of its political rival Hariri earlier this month.

	All claims that Hezbollah has plans to install an Iranian or Shiite government is distortion, misleading and outright false
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah

But Hariri’s Future Movement said there was no such thing as a “consensual candidate.”

“There is a candidate named Saad Hariri, and then there is another candidate nominated by the opposition,” the statement said. “Those are the only two choices.”

In an apparent bid to reach out to Hariri, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday said his party and its allies had no intention of excluding their political rivals from the new cabinet.

“To dispel any illusions … we in the opposition will look for a partnership government if (our) candidate wins the parliamentarian majority. We do not call for a government from one side and for excluding any political party,” Nasrallah said

“We respect everyone’s right to representation,” he added. “All claims that Hezbollah has plans to install an Iranian or Shiite government is distortion, misleading and outright false.”

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, whose country fought a devastating 2006 war with the Shiite group, warned earlier a Hezbollah-led government would mean “an Iranian government on Israel’s northern border.”

Fears of sectarian violence are on the rise in Lebanon as feuding parties prepare for a showdown on who will head a new cabinet, more than a week after Hezbollah brought down the unity government of U.S.-backed Saad Hariri.

Hezbollah and its allies have ruled out nominating Hariri for reappointment. Hariri, however, maintains he is still seeking another second term.

“We were unable to agree on a person, on who should be premier,” Nasrallah said. “But that does not at all indicate that the resistance seeks to exclude or cancel out any party in Lebanon.”

The vote is expected to be tight and political analysts estimated at the weekend that Lebanon’s 128 MPs were equally divided between Hariri and a candidate backed by Hezbollah.

Favorite candidate

President Michel Suleiman on Monday began two days of consultations with the country’s 128 MPs, who will name their pick for premiership

Mikati was seen on Monday as the favorite candidate to be appointed Lebanon prime minister.

“His name is prevailing among all other options,” MP Ibrahim Kanaan, a member of the Christian Free Patriotic Movement allied with Hezbollah, told AFP.

He said Mikati, a telecoms tycoon, had emerged as a top choice given his position as a centrist politician who has good relations with the country’s feuding parties.

The Lebanese press was unanimous on Monday in presenting Mikati as the candidate set to be nominated by Hezbollah, which on January 12 forced the collapse Hariri’s unity government.

“Mikati comes forward as a candidate backed by the opposition,” said the Arabic-language daily Al-Akbar, which is close to Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah’s surprise: Mikati,” added the independent daily Al-Balad while Hariri’s Al-Mustaqbal newspaper said Hezbollah had turned its sights on Mikati after dropping veteran politician Omar Karameh.

Mikati, 55, submitted his candidacy on Sunday saying he was coming forward in the hope of being a consensual candidate.

“I consider myself a centrist, consensual and moderate candidate,” he said in a statement.

“I don’t view my candidacy as a challenge to anyone but rather as an opportunity to restore contacts among (rival) leaders,” he added.

An adviser to Mikati, who was elected to parliament in 2009 on Hariri’s list, told AFP that Mikati did not wish to be viewed as Hezbollah’s candidate.

“He is the candidate of a government of national salvation aimed at preventing deep divisions in the country,” he said, requesting anonymity.

But members of Hariri’s coalition immediately denounced Mikati as a traitor.

“This is treason, he is backstabbing Hariri,” MP Okab Sakr told Lebanese radio.

“He was elected as part of Hariri’s coalition and as such he should have consulted with Hariri concerning his candidacy,” Sakr added. “It is clear that he has coordinated all this with Hezbollah and its allies.

Mikati, who hails from the mainly Sunni northern city of Tripoli and has maintained good relations with Syria, served as premier for three months in 2005 after the pro-Syrian government collapsed in the wake of former premier Rafiq Hariri’s murder.

No confirmation on nominee

Nasrallah, who struck a conciliatory tone on Sunday, did not confirm who his MPs and their allies would nominate but did say that Karameh had been their top choice for the premiership.

“The truth is that Omar Karameh contacted me and thanked us but said that he was older now and was not in the best of health and that he would rather we found another candidate,” Nasrallah said.

“We will decide who our candidate is in the coming hours.”

Hariri today heads a 60-seat alliance in the 128-member parliament, against 57 for the Hezbollah-led camp.

The Shiite group needs to secure the backing of at least eight MPs outside its coalition in order to guarantee its Sunni Muslim candidate is appointed premier.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, once a staunch supporter of Hariri, said on Friday he will back Hezbollah, giving the Shiite group and its allies, a likely majority to endorse a Sunni politician of their choice to form a new government.

Dispute over STL

Hariri’s government collapsed on January 12 when Hezbollah and its allies pulled 11 ministers from the cabinet, capping a long-running dispute over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).

The U.N.-backed STL, tasked with investigating the assassination of Saad’s father, Rafiq Hariri, will reportedly indict high-ranking Hezbollah operatives in the murder.

Nasrallah has accused the Netherlands-based tribunal of being under U.S.-Israeli control and has warned against any such accusation.

Hezbollah had asked Hariri to repudiate the indictment and cut Lebanon’s ties with the tribunal, but he refused.

Analysts say excluding Hariri from a new government would cause resentment among the wider Sunni population in Lebanon who see him as their main leader, and possibly spark violence.

Another risk is angering Sunni jihadi groups, close to al-Qaeda’s thinking, who see Hezbollah as an arm of Shiite Iran in the country which should be opposed.