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Tuesday, 8 September 2009

Sayyed Nasrallah: Hariri's Move Further Complicates Government Crisis


Sayyed Nasrallah: Hariri's Move Further Complicates Government Crisis
Batoul Wehbe

08/09/2009 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah rejected the prime minister-designate proposed cabinet line-up, saying Saad Hariri's move would further complicate the government problem. “I don't think that the method employed today takes Lebanon out of the government formation crisis. On the contrary, it further complicates the problem,” Sayyed Nasrallah said during an Iftar in Beirut on Monday.

His eminence also described Hariri's move as “inappropriate” and said the Future movement leader and his March 14 allies had not made any concessions in talks aimed at agreeing the new unity government. Sayyed Nasrallah said that the opposition would deal with Hariri's move with “full solidarity” adding that each parliamentary bloc has the right to name its ministers and the cabinet portfolios it wants.

Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated there is no law that prevents giving cabinet seats to candidates who had lost the elections, in reference to the “majority’s” rejection of Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil. “Isn't such a rejection considered hindrance to the process of Lebanese government formation?” he wondered.

“When they said that it’s impossible to appoint a candidate who lost in his constituency, it does not mean that he is incapable or incompetent. We all know how the elections in Lebanon took place and we all know where the votes were being sold at the price of a thousand, two thousand and five thousand dollars,” Hezbollah’s Secretary General said. “Is the opposition only sticking to some portfolios while the loyalty is not sticking to some of the portfolios! Please give us some of yours. Impossible, it’s a red line!”

Hariri announced on Monday that he presented a 30-member Cabinet lineup to President Michel Sleiman which is more considered to be a fait accompli government rather than a national unity one. "I presented President Michel Sleiman a national unity cabinet lineup of 30 ministers based on the 15-10-5 formula," Hariri said following talks with Sleiman in his summer residence in Beiteddine. According to the PM-Designate, the formula takes into consideration the sectarian balance in the country and respects the results of the June 7 parliamentary elections. It is also based on a new "principle": the "rotation" of portfolios. The National Opposition immediately rejected the "suspicious" move, particularly since the latest meeting between Hariri and Telecommunications Minister Gebran Bassil did not produce any radical changes.

Concerning the bankruptcy of Lebanese businessman Salah Ezzedine, Sayyed Nasrallah rejected that Hezbollah’s leadership had any connection to this case saying that leaders do not have anything of the money claimed. “Shedding light on this case by a number of media outlets is aimed at tarnishing the image of many of the party cadres,” he said adding that the party would issue a detailed statement on this sensitive subject that affects the people's money.


Oposition Informs President It Rejects Gov't 'Imposed' by Hariri

08/09/2009 A few hours following the "suspicious" move made by Prime Minister-Designate Saad Hariri who proposed a "fait accompli" cabinet without consulting his "rivals," the national opposition seemed fully united in solidarity…

The opposition, aware of the "repercussions" of Hariri's move, immediately rejected the cabinet "imposed" by the PM-Designate as a "coup on constitution," wondering how he could give himself the "right" of nominating the other blocs' ministers and determine their portfolios.

While the opposition's major "poles," including Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah and the head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun, raised the voice against Hariri's move, the opposition's follow-up committee was holding a meeting at Telecommunications Minister Gebran Bassil's home.

On Tuesday, Sayyed Nasrallah's political adviser Hajj Hussein Khalil, Speaker Nabih Berri's political assistant MP Ali Hassan Khalil and Minister Gebran Bassil visited President Michel Sleiman at the Presidential summer residence in Beiteddine.

Following the meeting, Bassil told reporters that the delegation informed the president about the opposition's rejection of the government line-up which was "imposed" by Hariri.

For his part, MP Ali Hasan Khalil expressed, while addressing reporters, belief that the president would play a positive role in the cabinet formation process.

Commenting on Hariri's newly-established "principle" of "rotation of portfolios," Change and Reform MP Emil Rahme wondered, during a TV interviews, why some ministries were believed to be red line. "Let Hariri give the opposition the Finance ministry for instance. Is it an exclusive right for only one bloc?"

Also part of contacts on the governmental issue, Sleiman met with Minister Wael Abou Faour following talks with Minister Talal Erslan. Abu Faour said that he understands what Hariri did since he did his duty, but wondered why the Opposition rejection came so fast.

SLEIMAN WANTS BALANCED, NOT EXTREMIST, GOVERNMENT

Ahead of the meeting, President Michel Sleiman told Lebanese daily An-Nahar that he would not give the green light to a cabinet line-up that is not balance or reasonable.
"If the line-up was reasonable, I would take my time in making consultations, particularly with the speaker," Sleiman said.

"There is nothing easier than letting a team of Lebanese clap for me from here and there. But I want to save the country," he emphasized.

He stressed that he wants a balanced government because the situation would explode with an extremist cabinet. "This would lead to outside intervention," he warned.

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