Hussein Dakroub – The Daily Star
Despite Hezbollah’s escalation over the representation of six allied Sunni MPs in the new government that put the country on the verge of an open-ended political crisis, senior officials Wednesday sounded optimistic about resolving this problem, clearing the way for the Cabinet formation. Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said that statements by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah have left the door open for a solution to the issue of representing the six Sunni lawmakers from outside Hariri’s Future Movement, the last remaining obstacle to the formation of a national unity government.
“Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s speech has left the door open for a solution. So did Prime Minister Saad Hariri at his news conference,” Berri was quoted as saying during his weekly meeting with lawmakers at his Ain al-Tineh residence.
Berri, according to a number of MPs, said he had informed Bassil, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, of his position on “ideas that can be built upon” to explore a solution to the problem of representing the six Sunni MPs in the next government.
The speaker expressed hope that “efforts to form the government as soon as possible will be successful due to national necessities on all levels,” according to a statement released by Berri’s media office.
Speaking at a news conference Tuesday devoted mainly to responding to Nasrallah’s escalatory tone last week and his insistence that the six Sunni lawmakers be represented in the next government, Hariri struck back, saying that Hezbollah was the only party responsible for blocking the government formation, which has entered its six month of deadlock.
While reiterating his staunch refusal to cede one seat from the Future Movement’s share to the six MPs because they had not formed a unified political bloc, Hariri left the door open for a compromise solution. “President [Michel] Aoun will name one [Sunni minister], and I agreed on one for [former premier Najib] Mikati, who is the only one who came to me who heads a political bloc,” he said.
Similarly, despite his insistence in a televised speech last week that the six MPs be represented in the next government, Nasrallah had left “a window” to find a solution to the problem, when he said Hezbollah would agree to any decision accepted by those MPs regarding their participation in the government.
Bassil, who has launched an initiative aimed at resolving the issue, struck an upbeat note after meeting Wednesday with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian on a solution to the Cabinet formation impasse based on fair representation. The mufti has strongly supported Hariri’s efforts to form a new government, rejecting attempts to infringe on the prime minister-designate’s prerogatives in the formation process.
“Today, each side has spoken out and escalated its position. But with the escalation, I see that the door is being opened, thus making a solution more attainable,” Bassil told reporters after the meeting with the mufti at Dar al-Fatwa.
“I am fully optimistic that we are entering a stage where we talk with each other and search for a solution based on justice, true representation and national accord because we are [forming] a national unity government that must include everyone, without being unfair to anyone and without coercion,” the FPM leader said.
Bassil added that although Hariri struck back at Nasrallah, he had left “a wide margin” for a solution. “I understand [Hariri’s] response to some matters. But he displayed national consciousness sufficient to leave for us a wide margin to move and find a solution,” he said.
Bassil defended Hariri, saying he should be a strong prime minister for the country and for Aoun’s term to be strong.
“We want a strong government and for this reason, we want the prime minister to be strong. This is our demand. If the prime minister is not strong, we will have a weak government, a weak country and a weak presidential term,” he said, adding that he opposed any infringement on the prime minister’s prerogatives.
Referring to the representation problem of the six Sunni MPs, Bassil said: “The problem of representing a political side in the Cabinet needs to be tackled in a manner that takes into account true representation and the criteria on whose basis the Cabinet is being formed. The mufti has a role to play in this respect because if Prime Minister Hariri is the ‘political father of the Sunnis,’ the mufti is the ‘spiritual father of the Sunnis.’ ”
Referring to Israeli threats to attack Lebanon and the impact of the U.S. sanctions on Hezbollah, Bassil said: “Our national unity through a national unity government is the best response. It strengthens the country and makes us confront anything with a new victory for the country.”
Bassil’s meeting with Derian was the latest of his shuttle diplomacy to promote an initiative aimed at resolving the issue of the six Sunni MPs’ representation. He had met with Berri, Hariri, former MP Walid Joumblatt, the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, and MP Faisal Karami, one of the six MPs.
A political source familiar with the Cabinet formation process told The Daily Star that Bassil’s initiative calls for naming a compromise Sunni candidate as a minister in the new Cabinet, who would be part of Aoun’s share and “acceptable to both Hariri and the six Sunni MPs.” Bassil had already discussed his initiative with Nasrallah last week.
MP Jihad al-Samad, one of the six Sunni lawmakers, criticized Bassil for not consulting with them on the proposed solution.
“The independent Sunni MPs are not concerned with any step taken by Minister Gebran Bassil without consulting with them,” Samad told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.
“According to the results of the [May] parliamentary elections and with a simple calculation, it’s their right to have one minister in the Cabinet,” he added.
He called on those involved in the Cabinet formation process to choose one of the six Sunni lawmakers as a minister.
Asked to comment on Samad’s remarks, Bassil said: “Everyone has his own opinion. It’s my duty to consult and talk with everyone. Thank God, I have no problem or complex with anyone. I am ready [to meet] with anyone who can contribute to a solution and the formation of a productive national unity government.”
