Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said that the army-people-resistance formula can no longer be used for the new cabinet’s policy statement due to Hezbollah’s involvement in the war in Syria, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Al-Liwaa quoted Suleiman as telling a delegation from the Beirut National Gathering that the resistance took a unilateral decision to fight in Syria without consulting with the army and the people.
Such a decision took the resistance out of its commitments to the people-army-resistance formula, he reportedly said.
The Baabda declaration is the only viable policy statement according to Suleiman.
This development comes days after Suleiman criticized Hezbollah’s role in the Syrian civil war which was followed by a rocket attack that targeted the Baabda presidential palace and the Army headquarters .
On Thursday, two rockets were fired at the Baabda area .
One landed within the security perimeter of the Presidential Palace and the other within the security perimeter of the Army headquarters .
The attack came hours after President Suleiman gave a speech during the ceremony marking the 68 the Army Day in which he criticized Hezbollah’s defense of the Syrian regime.
Cabinet
Al-Liwaa reported that the president hinted that he would sign a decree for the formation of a neutral cabinet if Premier-designate Tammam Salam comes up with such a lineup over the failure of the political parties to limit their conditions.
But an official close to Suleiman reportedly told As Safir newspaper that the president continues to insist on Hezbollah’s participation in the cabinet despite calls by March 14 officials to isolate the party over its fighting alongside troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“There is no hostility between the president and Hezbollah … nor between him and any other Lebanese party,” the official was quoted as saying
He stressed that only weapons targeted at Israel are considered legitimate as part of a national defense strategy.
Suleiman said in his Army Day speech last Thursday that “it has become urgent to approve a defense strategy after the resistance’s arms went beyond Lebanon’s borders ” and stressed that only the weapons targeted at Israel are considered legitimate and part of a national defense strategy.
The PM-designate has been trying to form a cabinet based on giving a third share to the opposing political blocks – March 14 , March 8 and the centrists, but the Hezbollah led March 8 alliance is insisting on having a bigger share in the cabinet to allow it to veto its decisions . Salam has been opposed to give any party a veto power ( usually referred to as a blocking third ) . He has recently been floating the idea of forming a neutral cabinet of technocrats, but Hezbollah is opposed to this idea too.
This is why Lebanon is still without a government and Najib Miqati is still acting as the caretaker Prime Minister.
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