Those who don”t back me won”t get my support
Geagea denies March 14 trying to throw out 15-10-5 cabinet formula
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri warned on Sunday that he would reciprocate toward any parties that refrained from re-nominating him as premier-designate.
“Whoever wishes to nominate Saad Hariri, let him do, and whoever refrains to do so, I would act with him following my designation like he acted with me prior to it,” Hariri said, in a reference to Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun’s declaration that his party would not re-nominate the Future Movement leader.
During an iftar at his residence in Qoreitim, Hariri said he was still reaching out to opposition groups to form a national-unity cabinet but refused to allow the parliamentary minority to impose its conditions on the majority.
“There is a majority and a minority as well as the constitutional prerogatives of the president and the premier-designate that govern the formation process thus we have to negotiate to form a cabinet,” he said.
Hariri stepped down as prime minister-designate on Thursday, accusing the opposition of hampering his efforts to form a government.
However, he is expected to be re-designated for the post as parliamentary majority figures expressed support on Sunday for his re-appointment together with Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt and Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea.
During an iftar Saturday, Hariri said he “did not ask anyone to nominate him,” adding that “in a democratic regime anyone is free not to.”
Hariri said he cared more about the implementation of the Constitution and the Taif agreement rather than being designated premier, adding that no party can impose its conditions on the “third presidency.”
The Future Movement will hold a meeting on Monday to decide whether to nominate its leader as premier during another round of binding parliamentary consultations with President Michel Sleiman on Tuesday, Future Movement MP Ammar Houri said.
“Hariri has not decided yet if he wants to be re-designated [and is] awaiting Monday’s meeting,” Houri said.
When asked about the 15-10-5 cabinet formula, Houri stressed that the Future Movement remained committed to form a national-unity and partnership cabinet. “However, Hariri is not bound to the formula,” Houri added.
The formula, which had been agreed by both the majority and opposition during previous rounds of negotiations, grants the majority 15 ministers, the opposition 10 and the president five seats.
Meanwhile, Geagea denied on Sunday claims that March 14 was attempting to throw out the 15-10-5 cabinet formula, adding that Hariri was seriously committed to form a government based on that structure.
“Hariri was very serious with regard to the 15-10-5 formula and attempted to reach an agreement over the government issue but the opposition had made no political decision so far as to form a cabinet,” Geagea said.
Geagea slammed the conditions imposed on Hariri by the FPM regarding the party’s share in the next government, saying that “the demands were too big to be carried by any party.”
He added that neither the LF nor the Phalange Party or the Future Movement were satisfied with the cabinet make-up but made compromises so as to facilitate the formation process.
“No single government can answer all political parties’ demands,” Geagea said.
Speaking on behalf of Geagea, his wife, MP Strida Geagea stressed during the opening of an LF bureau in Denieh in Akkar that the LF alliance with the Future Movement was not temporary but rather in the service of Lebanon.
For his part, Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat, who attended the opening, stressed that Hariri would not make further compromises, adding that “Lebanon First was a political choice rather than a slogan for propaganda goals.”
Fatfat also said that the Future Movement would nominate Hariri as premier.
Similarly, Future Movement MP Moustapha Alloush said Hariri would be re-nominated on Wednesday but this time liberated of pre-conditions and not bound to previous formulas.
Alloush earlier slammed Hizbullah officials for escalating their demands along with Aoun to draw the parliamentary majority into striking back at them so as to create an alibi to hamper the formation process.
Meanwhile, PSP leader Walid Jumblatt stressed on Sunday that he would not support any formula that would not result in the formation of a national-unity cabinet, adding that the 15-10-5 line-up is the most suitable.
He urged all parties including Hizbullah and the Future Movement to compromise in order to reach an agreement on the government. He also emphasized the importance of Syrian-Saudi rapprochement, which he said would benefit Lebanon.
Jumblatt also stressed that the PSP would nominate Hariri as premier during binding consultations with Sleiman.
As for Speaker Nabih Berri’s stance, a well-informed source told The Daily Star that the Liberation to Development bloc’s decision to name Hariri was tied to the latter’s commitment to a national-unity cabinet.
When asked about ongoing contacts to reach an agreement over the cabinet, the source added that Berri “was pursuing his efforts as to absorb the government’s formation crisis.”
“Hariri surprised everybody when he resigned last Thursday as he had promised the Parliament speaker he would wait till Sunday,” the source said.
MP Marwan Hamadeh, member of the Democratic Gathering bloc headed by Jumblatt, said that Hariri’s resignation aimed to highlight the need to form the next government in accordance with constitutional norms.
He added that Hariri was still holding to the principle of forming a national-unity cabinet while rejecting a new Qatari-brokered agreement.
Qatar brokered the Doha agreement in 2008 which led to the election of President Michel Sleiman and the formation of a national unity cabinet that granted the opposition veto power.
“This time the government should be formed in Beirut since the Lebanese have a consensus president and an elected Parliament,” Hamadeh said.
Conversely, FPM leader MP Michel Aoun expressed on Saturday his openness to any Qatari initiative to break the political deadlock.
Aoun’s son-in-law, FPM Caretaker Telecommunication Minister Jebran Bassil said on Sunday that the cabinet formation was not hampered by disagreements over the nomination of ministerial candidates or the distribution of portfolios but rather a lack of commitment to national-unity and partnership.
Bassil added that the crisis was related to plans to naturalize the Palestinians refugees in Lebanon, adding that “naturalization would come at the expense of Lebanon rather than an individual religious faction.”
He also slammed remarks by political figures who have warned of civil strife if any amendments of the premier’s constitutional powers were even considered.
On Saturday, Aoun accused Hariri, along with the United States, Saudi Arabia and Egypt of hampering the cabinet’s formation, adding that the Future Movement delayed the process to await upcoming foreign developments.
Aoun reiterated his demand to re-appoint Bassil as telecommunication minister for another term “since the latter proved that he was qualified to handle the post.”
Aoun’s ally, Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc leader MP Mohammad Raad, said during an iftar in Nabatiyeh that Hizbullah’s participation in the cabinet was all but guaranteed by those forming it.
Raad stressed that political parties had not exhausted all efforts and dialogue options to reach an agreement on the cabinet make-up based on the 15-10-5 formula.
“We would be part of the cabinet no matter who the premier-designate is, as we would keep urging him to carry on objective dialogue in order to safeguard the balance of power among political parties based on their size,” Raad said.