Future Movement official Mustafa Allouch told MTV on Friday: “The fear of arms is what led to Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt’s shift in alliance.”
“Jumblatt twists and turns to justify his stance,” Allouch also said, adding that a civil war requires two armed parties, but the only armed party in Lebanon is Hezbollah.
He also told MTV that Hezbollah’s arms and not the tribunal are the fundamental issue in Lebanon crisis.
The March 14 coalition will not participate in the next cabinet, the Future Movement official said, adding that the ball is in Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati’s court.
“If Mikati decides to commit to what the [Dar al-Fatwa’s] statement approved of, then there is no need for March 14 to participate in the cabinet since the Ministerial Statement will be [based on Dar al-Fatwa’s] statement. March 14 will then move into opposition to monitor the implementation of the Ministerial Statement.”
Sunni political and religious leaders attended an “Islamic meeting” at Dar al-Fatwa last week, following which they issued a statement warning against “giving up on Lebanon’s commitment to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).” Mikati attended the meeting and reportedly accepted the statement.
Allouch condemned the campaign against President Michel Suleiman and said it aims at disrupting the balance in the country.
He was referring to the attack that was launched Wednesday by Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun against Suleiman .
Najib Mikati was appointed to the premiership on January 25 with the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition’s backing and has called on all parties to join his cabinet. Mikati won the nomination after Jumblatt and party MPs from his bloc voted with March 8 in parliamentary consultations.
Sunni political and religious leaders attended an “Islamic meeting” at Dar al-Fatwa last week, issuing a statement afterward that warned against “giving up on Lebanon’s commitment to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).” Mikati attended the meeting and reportedly accepted the statement.
Some March 14 figures are continuing talks with Mikati on cabinet participation while others have announced that the coalition will enter the opposition.
The Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s imminent indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005 .
Nagib Mikati, who was backed by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies including MP Walid Jumblatt and Mohammad Safadi, was appointed on January 25 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 protest.
On Monday U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton accused Hezbollah of hijacking Lebanon’s democracy.
The Lebanese “deserve to have their democracy respected and their voices heard, and not have one element of their society using the threat of force and the potential of violence to try to achieve political ends,” she said.
This was a possible reference to the alleged Hezbollah threats against MP Walid Jumblatt and his PSP parliament members that forced them to switch allegiance to Hezbollah’s PM candidate
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