Future Movement Okab Sakr told MTV on Saturday that the March 14 alliance will soon announce that it is not participating in Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati’s upcoming cabinet.
“ March 8 wants to take us back to one-party governance , whereas we want partnership,” Sakr said
“Outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri was negotiating to end Lebanon’s crisis, but the other side was negotiating to remove Hariri,” he added.
“Mikati said that he was nominated by Hezbollah to protect the Resistance which he agreed to do.”
“What is the role of President Michel Suleiman if a one-sided cabinet is formed ? Where are the PM’s powers?” asked former Lebanese president and current Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel following his meeting with Mikati on Friday, adding that he is in constant contact with his allies in the March 14 coalition over possibility of participation in the cabinet.
Mikati, backed Hezbollah and its March 8 allies including MPs Walid Jumblatt and Mohammad Safadi, was appointed by president Michel Suleiman as PM-designate to form and head the next cabinet , giving Hezbollah and its allies increased leverage in the country and provoking widespread protests.
The Iranian- and Syria-backed Hezbollah brought down Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s ( STL) indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005 .
Mikati held two days of talks with parliamentary groups on forming his government last week with the Hariri camp still refusing to join his administration.
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