Opposition Forces Adapt a Strong Stance in Favor of Veto Power
The parliamentary minority”s descriptions of what they seek from Lebanon”s next government varied but agreed in seeking to obtain veto powers. Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri denied news that he proposed a sole cabinet minister with veto powers.
Hizbullah”s Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naeem Qassem said on Saturday: "The [parliamentary] opposition wants consensus as does the parliamentary majority. The difference now is over the form of consensus, some would like to by sly and desire a none conciliatory consensus, as for us we want an actual and applicable consensus."
“Loyalty to the Resistance ” MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi said that during his meeting with visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Friday he listened to his views concerning government formation, while he [Moussawi] presented his "advice" regarding how one should deal with the coming period.
"There were two past experiences in government in 2005, the first when we were excluded from the Saniora government, and the second that proved to be successful, following the Doha [agreement]," Moussawi said.
Hizbullah sources considered Kouchner”s remarks a departure from his excessive neutrality and his direct entry as a party in forming the next government.
Earlier Kouchner told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Saturday "the idea of veto power in the cabinet is not democratic" and that sectarianism is an obstacle to government formation.
MP Mohammed Raad renewed his call for a national unity government "in which an actual and full partnership is achieved."
Raad added that he sees no explanation in delaying government formation adding, "no one knows when the new government would be born as no one single party holds the formula for it yet."
Telecommunications Minister Jubran Bassil, [a member of the Free Patriotic Movement] defended the opposition”s demand for a proportional representation of the parliamentary minority in government saying: "There are those that say that this is far removed from the country”s constitution. This is misleading and represents a lack of appreciation and understanding of its meaning."
"We want an actual national unity and a true partnership, we want for everybody to be represented in cabinet according to their political size and according to the outcome of the last legislative elections, despite our reservations. However, we accepted its outcome," Bassil said.
He went on to add that if there is a consensus in providing the president with a parliamentary bloc "then let it be provided by all the political blocs in parliament in the same proportion and not just only by one party."