Hezbollah MP Kamel Rifai said on Friday that “Hezbollah is trying to mediate between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun ”
Suleiman and Aoun must reach an understanding over the Interior and Defense ministries, which they both want, Rifai told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency.
He did not mention anything about the dispute between PM designate Nagib Mikati and Hezbollah
Aoun has reportedly been insisting on a 40 % share in the cabinet which should include the ministry of interior and defense and does not want president Suleiman to have any share. Hezbollah on the other hand is demanding that Faisal Karami , son of former PM Omar Karami should represent the Sunnis in the cabinet .
The Iranian and Syrian -backed Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) imminent indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005.
Mikati was appointed in January as the PM designate with the backing of the Hezbollah March 8 alliance and MPs Walid Jumblatt and Mohammad Safadi. March 14 leaders have repeatedly said that intimidation from Hezbollah’s weapons helped secure the parliamentary majority for Mikati’s nomination.
March 14 parties have announced that they will not take part in the cabinet Mikati is currently forming, and Hariri vowed to fight the use of non-state weapons “peacefully and democratically.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.