Miqati Launches Efforts to Form New Govt, Raad Denies Imposing Conditions

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati on Thursday launched efforts to form a new government amid outgoing PM Saad Hariri's insistence on an all-out boycott of his al-Mustaqbal bloc in the new Cabinet and March 14 forces' unclear stance.

Miqati began his consultations at Parliament by meeting Speaker Nabih Berri.

He then met Hariri for barely a couple of minutes.

Hariri, whose government was toppled by Hizbullah and its allies Jan. 12, did not make any statements. However, he said jokingly: "What is the benefit of participating" in the new government?

Mustaqbal bloc held an extraordinary meeting earlier Thursday ahead of consultations with parliamentary blocs aimed at forming a new government.

The Daily Star quoted a March 14 source as saying that Al-Mustaqbal Movement will inform Miqati on Thursday that it will not take part in the next Cabinet.

The source said Hariri's Mustaqbal Movement, the largest member of the March 14 alliance, will move to lead the new opposition.

Baath Party bloc MP Assem Qansou said after consultations with Miqati that "the new government must be the beginning of comprehensive reform and it must fend off any possibility of street violence."

For his part, Syrian Social Nationalist Party MP Asaad Hardan said after talks with Miqati that the role of any future government should be "maintaining civil peace and ending sectarian incitement."

Meanwhile, head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad called for forming a "national salvation government."

Following consultations with Miqati, Raad said Hizbullah wants "a government that would tackle financial and administrative reform and fill vacancies in state institutions."

Responding to remarks made earlier in the day by the Mustaqbal bloc, Raad said: "We have not imposed conditions on the PM-designate and no Lebanese would accept that conditions be imposed on President (Michel) Suleiman and PM-designate Miqati."

"We did not give a list of conditions to Prime Minister Miqati," the head of Hizbullah's 12-member bloc in parliament said. "What we asked for is a national partnership and a national salvation government in which everyone cooperates for the interest of the country."

Head of National Struggle Front MP Walid Jumblat called after consultations with Miqati for maintaining the "democratic game."

"It's not the first time that someone has left power," Jumblat added, in reference to outgoing premier Hariri.

"Lebanon is not Tunisia; it is different than all other countries. What's important is to maintain dialogue in the country," Jumblat stressed.

For his part, MP Michel Murr, who was accompanied by his granddaughter MP Nayla Tueni, said that no one from the Murr family was nominated for any ministerial post in the new government.

Murr's son, Elias, is the current caretaker Defense Minister.

"I think that Mustaqbal bloc's conditions won't be accepted by PM-designate Miqati," Murr noted after talks with the premier designate.

Zahle bloc MP Oqab Saqr, who boycotted consultations with Miqati, said he did not take part in the "nominal" parliamentary consultations "because participation represents an acknowledgement and I don't acknowledge the de facto government or the de facto premier."

Speaking on behalf of the Lebanese Forces bloc after the consultations, MP Elie Kairouz said that appointing Miqati "did not happen as a result of real democratic consultations."

"We expressed to PM-designate Miqati our total respect for him on the personal level and we will wait for his answers regarding the issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon," Kairouz added.

Phalange Party bloc MP Elie Marouni said talks with Miqati tackled the issue of Lebanese-Syrian relations. "We criticized the presence of a tutelage authority represented by the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council. We also discussed border demarcation.

"Our participation in the new government is currently under discussion and the decision will be announced later," Marouni added.

Head of Mountain Unity bloc MP Talal Arslan hoped everyone would cooperate with Miqati "to rescue the country from the STL and its direct threats."

As to head of Free United Lebanon bloc MP Suleiman Franjieh, he said the bloc offered "full support" for Miqati, noting that the bloc does not have "problematic demands."

"I don't intend to participate in the new government unless national duty necessitated that," Franjieh announced.

"The new government will consist of politicians and technocrats. It will respect the coexistence charter by including all sects, but not all political parties, according to the current indications," he added.