Hezbollah rejects offer to take one-third of Lebanon cabinet
PM-designate Hariri presents list, but President Suleiman unlikely to okay any without opposition support.
By Reuters Tags: Hezbollah Israel newsLebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri handed the president his proposed line-up for a national unity government on Monday in a move swiftly rejected by opposition factions including the powerful Hezbollah.
Although Hariri's offer would give the opposition March 8 alliance one-third of the seats in cabinet, a senior source said: "We will not deal with this proposal because we know nothing about it. As far as we are concerned, it does not exist and we will have nothing to do with it."
Hariri was designated prime minister in late June but has yet to reach agreement with the opposition on the new unity government set to include the Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies.
President Michel Suleiman, who took office last year as a consensus candidate, is not expected to approve any cabinet proposal that does not have opposition support.
"The president informed me that he would study the formation," Haririsaid after meeting Suleiman, who has said he wants the government to be formed before he travels to the UN General Assembly later this month.
The rival factions have agreed on the broad division of seats in the new cabinet. But Hariri, son of assassinated former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, has struggled to reach agreement with opposition politicians on the details.
At the heart of the dispute are the demands of Christian leader Michel Aoun, an ally of Hezbollah. Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement holds more seats in parliament than any other Christian party.
Hariri, leader of an alliance that won a June 7 parliamentary election, has resisted Aoun's demand for Gebran Bassil, his son-in-law, to keep his post as telecoms minister. Aoun also wants to name the new interior minister.
The line-up proposed by Hariri on Monday kept Ziad Baroud in his current post as interior minister and handed the telecoms ministry to a figure close to the prime minister-designate, political sources said.
Aoun said Hariri's move showed he did not want to form a government. "On the contrary, he wants to play with the cabinet formation according to his mood," Aoun told Sawt al-Mada radio station, according to a report published on his Tayyar Web site.
Fouad Siniora, the outgoing prime minister and a member of Hariri's Future Movement, will lead a caretaker cabinet until Suleiman issues a decree appointing the new government.
Hariri said his proposal respected the broad seat-sharing arrangement agreed with the opposition. It gives Hariri's "March 14" alliance 15 of 30 seats in the new cabinet and the opposition "March 8" alliance 10 seats.
President Suleiman is allowed to name the remaining five ministers, giving him a decisive say over cabinet decisions.
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Lebanon is a puppet of Syria and Iran. Hizbollah is the attack dog of the master who controls Lebanon. There is no democracy in Lebanon nor is Lebanon a country. Its a terrorist entity that serves as a satellite for Iran. Israel is the only nation that can bring freedom to Lebanon and the only nation that cares about the well being of the Lebanese.
Here we go again! Lebanon was once a modern peaceful nation with a Christian majority. This majority was educated and had 2-3 children on average while the poorer Muslim people had 8-12 children eventually edging out Christians through demographics (as is occurring in Israel). The Muslims demanded more power and an arrangement was made in power sharing. Soon Muslims wanted more and more power and demanded it with the force of violence and this is how Lebanon became a non-sovereign nation full of war. Now the Shiites are the poorer ones and the minority that is with violence demanding more and more power. What goes around comes around!
By accepting Hezbollah into the government, they also accept responsiblity for Hezbollahs actions. The aggression of Hezbollah against Israel will result in retaliation against Lebanon. Reap what you sow.
You say that "Auon understands how to keep Lebanon from becoming yet another Middle Eastern minion of international interests". Yet, that is precisely what Auon has done. Through Hezbollah, Auon has sold out his country to Iran. Frankly, and perhaps this is a predictable Canadian perspective, if I'm going to sell out, I'd much rather sell out to the West than a primitive, oppressive, maniacal religous sect that they call Iran.
When you can probably get 1/2...Lebanese politics are beginning to resemble Israel...Hezbollah is not the Labor Party and sell its soul....
Aoun just want to make money and gain power. He was 'anti-syrian' in the 90s and now he bows to them because they promised him the lebanon presidency, which means lot of bribes. He doesn't care about lebanese people. He doesn't care about hezbollah. He doesn't care about his or other religions. He is just a low level crooked politician.
the Gov of Lebanon is a very weak and has no back bone,as long other countries like Syria, Iran are involved in Lebanise politicks the country will be allways in trable.
It is incredulous that even when offered one-third of parliamentary seats, Hezbollah, which is a "minority" party in Lebanon is refusing to accept this generous offer. As with fanatic fascist parties, it is all or nothing. So, if the smart folks in Lebanon use their thinking caps, then it is too bad for Hezbollah. They should lose their voice in Government. Sore losers have no place running a nation, let alone their own people. Other nations should aid opposition parties against Hezbollah so that this terrorist group loses credibility as a political player.
Remember the decisions the Lebanese government took a year ago that Hezbo thugs did not like? In the name of democracy, Hezbo took over Lebanon using its terrorist force, killed over 100 innocent civilians, burnt newspaper offices it did not like. Democracy was restored thanks to Hezbo swift democratic actions. They are fully committed to democracy as long as you do as they like. And the funny thing is that they call Hezbanon a democracy.
The 10 Cabinet seats offered by Hariri would not be for Hizbullah only but for all the parties that are allied to form the opposition. The Shia comprised of Hizbullah and Amal together would get at most 4 seats, Maronite Christians 4 and minorities 2, or something close to that. The oppostion alliance led by the Christian leader, Aoun rejected the offer. It is being said that the oppostion is holding out to keep the Communications Ministry to safeguard Hizbullah's private communications network but the US-backed Hariri group is adamant that it will not leave this ministry in the hands of the opposition. Both groups have valid talking points to defend their adamancy but this stalemate means that there is no solution in sight.
Michel Aoun is one of the few Christian leaders in Lebanon who cares about about his own country than he does about others. He allied with Hezbollah in order to balance-out the more powerful interests of the Saudi financed pro-US / Israel block. The Syrians and Iranians cannot possibly match the financial power of Hariri's international supporters. Auon understands how to keep Lebanon from becoming yet another Middle Eastern minion of international interests.