Even if Hariri quits chances are he will be reappointed by the president to form the cabinet. Speaker Nabih Berri , a key member of the opposition has according to As Safir newspaper told members of Hezbollah and Amal that visited him yesterday in Ain el Tinah that if Hariri quits and the president initiates new consultations he will only name Hariri as the PM designate.
During an Iftar last night in Qoreitem, Hariri said that in the coming two or three days, he will take “further steps to serve the nation’s interests,” adding that the constitution grants him certain powers that he will practice, “because we take our responsibilities toward the Lebanese people seriously.” He did not elaborate on what he meant by “ further steps” nor the powers he will practice. “ Ali Hussein a Ya Libnan analyst thinks that what Hariri meant by further steps is that he may scrap the line-up of the national unity cabinet that he proposed to president Michel Suleiman and instead form a cabinet of March 14 majority members only .
Many blame the delay in government formation on the Saudi -Syrian reconciliation effort . Progressive socialist Part leader MP Walid Jumblatt has been working on this . He sent Monday his close aid Minister Ghazi Aridi to Jeddah with a letter to the Saudi Arabian leaders in which he has reportedly urged them to accelerate their reconciliation effort because such a step will help resolve Lebanon’s impasse
MP Nadim Gemayel, son of the former president-elect Bashir Gemayel said this morning : “Both Suleiman and Hariri know that what is behind the obstruction of the formation of the cabinet are Hezbollah arms and the Special International Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).” The STL was established to try the killers of former Prime minister Rafik Hariri , father of the PM-designate . Last spring the German magazine Der Spiegel revealed that Hezbollah was behind the assassination of Hairi Hariri.
Thursday
9:50 pm Qatari Prime and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jaber al-Thani announced on Thursday that Qatar is ready to host another session of inter-Lebanese talks after MP Saad Hariri stepped down from forming the cabinet.
9:40 pm UN chief Ban Ki-moon regrets the Lebanese parties’ failure to reach an understanding over the formation of a national-unity cabinet, according to UN Spokesperson Mary Okabi
9:00 Hariri said at the Iftar : “We are all Lebanese, we are partners, and not enemies. You are negotiating with us, not with your enemies,” Hariri said, in reference to the opposition . He added : The opposition wanted the majority to do all the sacrificing
8:40pm MP Saad Hariri: The majority is the one entitled to name the PM. Designate to form the cabinet
08:20 pm MP Ahmad Fatfat said the majority will reappoint MP Saad Hariri as prime minister-designate for the second time, adding that he does not expect outgoing PM Fouad Siniora to be nominated for the post.
8:15pm LBC: President Michel Suleiman will announce the schedule of the new consultations within 48 hours and Hariri would be renamed as PM-designate.
8:10pm An eighteen-year-old Mohammad Jaffal had his leg amputated at Nabatieh’s state-run hospital after stepping on a hidden cluster bomb near Ansar village.
8:08pm Basil's told New TV in response to Hariri’s quitting : Whoever fails in forming the cabinet cannot return even if the constitution allows him because he should apply on himself what he applied on others when he refused to include in the cabinet those that failed in the election
7:44pm Abu Jamra told "Al-Manar": whoever fails in forming the cabinet should not be asked again to do it
7:41pm Jumblatt told "Al-Manar:" I wish Hariri thought it over before stepping down , but I also wish the opposition was less harsh with him and what is required now is the acceleration of the consultations and the slowing down of speculation
7:40 Marouni: Hariri’s resignation was expected, opposition torpedoed every consensus approach
7:39 PSP leader Jumblatt to Al-Manar TV: I wish the opposition’s demands were not so difficult to meet
7:10pm North Lebanon’s Ministers and MPs are to meet this evening at the house of Tripoli’s mufti Malek Shaar to discuss the latest Cabinet lineup developments.
6:45pm caretaker PM Siniora from Beiteddine after meeting President Michel Suleiman: I will rename Saad Hariri as PM-designate and delaying Cabinet lineup will not obstruct our regular activities.
6:18pm Presidential statement: Hariri’s resignation falls within democratic framework, president to call for new consultations
6:08pm Chamoun regrets Hariri’s resignation, calls for opposition to shoulder responsibilities
5:37 pm President Michel Suleiman meets with caretaker PM Fouad Siniora in Beiteddine
05:09pm Fneish: Hezbollah regrets Hariri’s resignation, opposition wants guaranteeing-third (veto power)
04:05 pm Geagea after meeting the Italian ambassador: The March 8 team is covering up for a bigger movement outside Lebanon. It doesn’t want a government for several reasons, including Iran, the tribunal and tense relations between Syria and the west. LF to nominate Hariri again based on new criteria
3:48pm Outgoing PM Fouad Siniora meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison at Grand Serail
15:44 NOW exclusive: Official source says Hariri stepped down due to Iran’s propositions, opposition’s demands
2:55 pm Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri resigns from his post at a press conference following his meeting with President Michel Suleiman
2:02 pm President Michel Sleiman meets with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in Beiteddine
1:48pm OTV: Hariri left for Beiteddine for talks with Suleiman
1:16pm MP Jumblatt visited the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram Keshishian at the Patriarchate headquarters in Antelias.
1:05pm Salah Ezzedine" Lebanon's Madoff" was referred to the Public Prosecution for taking the necessary legal action against him
12:30pm Lebanese National Bloc: If Hezbollah will govern the country the same way it handled Ezzeddine's case, then good luck to the state!
12:00pm Tourism Minister Elie Marouni: The current Cabinet lineup proposal will not see the light at the end of the tunnel and Hariri will have to step down as PM-designate.
12;00 The recession is ending and the US economy is finally growing again. That's the message implicit in the Federal Reserve's latest survey of businesses around the country, which found economic activity stabilizing or improving in most regions
11:50am MP Ammar Houri told OTV: An apology will be Hariri's next move if the Cabinet crisis persists.
11:15 MP Nadim Gemayel,: “Both Suleiman and Hariri know that what is behind the obstruction of the formation of the cabinet are Hezbollah arms and the Special International Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).”
9:00 MP Samir Al-Jisr told VOL: There's some leniency on the dialogue. Any new consultations will lead to re-assigning Hariri as PM designate.
7:30 FPM MP Salim Salhab told the VOL: the absence of Gebran Bassil from Wednesday’s meeting between the opposition and the PM-designate is insignificant as the presence of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah representatives “means FPM was indeed represented.”
Wednesday
9:30 pm Hariri said during an Iftar Wednesday that he will not form a cabinet that does not fairly reflect the outcome of the 2009 parliamentary elections. He also said he will not succumb to “blackmail.” He added that in the coming two or three days, he will take “further steps to serve the nation’s interests.”
8:35pm Future News: PM-designate will visit President Suleiman either tomorrow or the day after to discuss the response to the proposed cabinet line-up
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8:30 Speaker Berri met Minister Ghazi Aridi in Ain el-Tinah.
8:00pm PM-designate Hariri will meet tonight Hezbollah’s Hussein Khalil and Amal’s Hassan Khalil.
7:50pm Jumblatt told Al Manar TV: The Cabinet lineup does not show good signs and discussions with President Suleiman continue.
