Parliamentary Consultations Pick Up Tuesday amid Sunni Outrage

Parliamentary consultations to pick a new prime minister is scheduled to resume Tuesday amid calls for “peaceful” street protests as outgoing PM Saad Hariri’s Al-Mustaqbal Movement accused Hizbullah of staging a coup by imposing its candidate to head the next government.

Protests in support of Hariri broke out in Sunni neighborhoods across Lebanon after the first day of parliamentary consulations showed that former PM Najib Miqati was winning the battle against Hariri.

Miqati has so far got 59 votes while only 49 MPs endorsed Hariri.

Hundreds of Mustaqbal demonstrators condemning Miqati's nomination for premiership took to the streets of Tariq Jedideh, Cola, Corniche Mazraa, Cite Sportive as well as Naameh and Jiyyeh south of Beirut and in neighborhoods in and around Tripoli shortly after the results emerged around 5:30pm, blocking roads with burning garbage containers.

Pro-Hariri supporters in Saadnayel and Majdel Anjar also vented their anger at Miqati, temporarily blocking the highway linking Beirut to Damascus.

Roads were also briefly cut off near Sidon and in several other towns in northern Lebanon.

But later in the evening, the Lebanese army, which deployed troops in the volatile regions, reopened all the roads and put out fires set in garbage containers.

In Tripoli, Miqati’s hometown and Lebanon’s main Sunni bastion, protesters shouted "Sunni blood is boiling!" and "Hizbullah, party of the devil!"

In downtown Beirut, a crowd of about 200 people gathered outside Hariri's residence in support of the caretaker premier as another group of demonstrators, carrying placards that read "No for Hizbullah rule" and "Pasdaran not welcome," referring to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, got underway nearby.

Al-Mustaqbal official Mustafa Alloush blasted Hizbullah for staging a "coup" and seeking to impose an Iranian form of religious government.

Under Lebanon's power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim.

"Following the coup aimed at allowing Hizbullah to impose its rule in Lebanon... we call on the Lebanese to express their anger and their refusal to fall under Iranian control through peaceful protests," Alloush said.

He said the protests were set to kick off at 10:00 am Tuesday.

Tripoli MP Mohammed Kabbara also called for a "day of anger" on Tuesday.

"This aggression against the Sunni sect and the nation is unacceptable," Kabbara said.

President Michel Suleiman is due to announce his choice for the premiership post on Tuesday after meeting with the various parliamentary blocs.

On Jan.1 2, Hizbullah and its allies toppled Hariri's government after a long-running dispute over the STL.

Mikati, a business tycoon known for his centrist positions, said that if he became Lebanon’s new prime minister he would act as a “consensual candidate” representing the various political parties.