Hussein Dakroub – The Daily Star
A group of Sunni MPs Friday insisted after meeting with President Michel Aoun on being represented in the new government, on the eve of a speech by Hezbollah’s leader in which he is expected to reaffirm the party’s support for their case. “We asked to be represented by one of the six lawmakers in the government, and this is the first and final solution,” MP Abdel-Rahim Mrad, one of the six Sunni MPs not affiliated with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s Future Movement, told reporters after their meeting with Aoun at Baabda Palace.
“President Aoun fully understood our point of view and requested that the issue of representation be dealt with calmly,” Mrad added.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is expected to touch in a speech he will deliver Saturday marking the party’s “Martyr’s Day” on the Cabinet formation process, now bogged down by a last-minute hitch over a demand by the six parliamentarians to be represented in the next government.
“Sayyed Nasrallah will reaffirm Hezbollah’s support for the representation of the independent Sunni MPs in the new Cabinet,” a senior Hezbollah official told The Daily Star.
“Given the importance of the event [Martyr’s Day], Nasrallah’s speech will also focus on Hezbollah’s growing military capability to face the Israeli enemy, as well as the situation in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain,” the official said.
The toughening of Hezbollah’s and the six Sunni MPs’ positions is likely to further prolong the Cabinet formation crisis, now in its sixth month, amid staunch opposition by Hariri to name any of those MPs a minister in the next government from the Future Movement’s share.
“Prime Minister Hariri is adamant on confining the Sunni representation to the Future Movement,” a source close to the premier-designate told The Daily Star.
In what appeared to be a quick response to the Hezbollah-backed MPs’ escalation, Future MP Samir Jisr wrote on his Twitter account: “Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is not a mailbox that receives what is sent to it. It is out of the question for him [Hariri] to step down.
“There is no interest for the country in this and this is what everyone is aware of. I hope things will go on the right path and the tone of escalatory attitudes is reduced.
“The only choice left for Hariri is to stand firm on his position.”
Aoun has backed Hariri’s position on the issue and a source at Baabda Palace said Aoun’s stance on the issue has not changed following his meeting with the six MPs. Asked what the president told the MPs during the meeting, the source told The Daily Star: “The president promised the MPs to make efforts and hold contacts with Prime Minister Hariri to find a solution to this problem.
“But the president’s stance remains the same that those MPs did not have a right to representation because they did not have a single bloc.”
The source denied reports about an alleged presidential initiative that calls for naming a “centrist” Sunni, who is not close to Hariri or Hezbollah, as a minister in the new government.
Local media outlets said the six MPs became nervous when Aoun reminded them that some of them belonged to other parliamentary blocs.
Mrad stressed that Hariri held the key to resolving this issue. “We hope that President Aoun will assist us in persuading [Hariri] on this matter.
“We hope the government will be formed as soon as possible and for this [Aoun’s] mandate to set off with strength. But this should not be done at our expense,” Mrad said.
Asked if Aoun was convinced of their case, he said: “The president promised us good things, God willing.”
Mrad vehemently rejected suggestions that a neutral Sunni figure acceptable to the six Sunni MPs and to Hariri be named a minister.
“The only solution is for us to be represented by a member of the Consultative Gathering [six Sunni MPs].”
In addition to Mrad, the group is also comprised of MP Walid Sukkarieh, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc; MP Qassem Hashem, a member of Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc; and MPs Jihad al-Samad and Faisal Karami, members of a bloc that includes MPs from the Marada Movement. The others, MPs Adnan Traboulsi and Mrad, do not belong to a bloc.
Mrad acknowledged the six MPs’ alliance with Hezbollah.
“We have historically stood on the side of our allies in the resistance movement [Hezbollah]. We are proud of supporting the resistance and of our affiliation to the pan-Arab line. Therefore, it is the right of allies to support with whom they are aligned.”
The meeting with Aoun was part of a series of contacts the MPs have launched with various leaders to canvass support for their demand to be represented in the new government.
The MPs have already met with Berri, Hussein Khalil, a key political aide to Nasrallah, and Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian. The MPs also plan to meet with Hariri and Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai.
Asked if the six MPs intend to meet with Hariri, who has been in France on a private visit since last week, Hashem said: “Definitely.”
Hariri was not expected to return to Beirut before attending the Paris Peace Forum, which will run from Nov. 11-13.
Meanwhile, Berri warned against attempts to thwart a quorum for a two-day legislative session he has called for next week, to discuss and endorse a raft of draft laws. “Parliament is the master of itself and there are no barriers to exercising its legislative role. The train of legislation has set off.
“The legislative session set for next week marks the beginning of successive sessions,” Berri told visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence.
Asked to comment on alleged preparations by some parties to thwart the session, Berri said: “If someone thought of thwarting the session, I advise them not to play this game, even though the game of quorum is a game that obstructs, and does not facilitate. For my part, I will stand against any attempt of this sort.”
He added that if the two-day session, slated for Monday and Tuesday, was thwarted by a lack of quorum, he would call for “open ad successive sessions.”
“It’s forbidden for Parliament to be disrupted. If anyone has in his mind [intention] to disrupt Parliament, he will be committing a big sin.
“The disruption of Parliament amounts to ruins. This means the country will be left without institutions, no government and no Parliament.
“This means no country,” Berri said.
