Salam begins govt. formation consultations amid Shiite Duo boycott

Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam on Wednesday began two-day non-binding consultations with MPs for forming a new government, amid a boycott by the parliamentary blocs of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, known in Lebanon as the Shiite Duo.

MP Qassem Hashem of Amal’s Development and Liberation bloc said the boycott does not mean that the two parties will not take part in the government.

Hezbollah and Amal have objected against the manner in which Salam was named premier on Monday, accusing unnamed parties of not honoring an alleged agreement for the re-appointment of Najib Mikati as premier.

Both parties had voted for President Joseph Aoun in Thursday’s presidential election session, after reports said that they received “guarantees” regarding several issues.

“PM-designate Salam is showing openness and does not have an intention to exclude anyone,” Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab said after meeting Salam at the beginning of the parliamentary consultations.

MP Waddah al-Sadek of the Change bloc meanwhile stressed that “no state has interfered in the elections and consultations and those saying that are lying.”

His colleague in the same bloc MP Mark Daou called for a “small” government after he met with Salam along with al-Sadek and MP Michel Doueihi.

The head of the Democratic Gathering MP Taymour Jumblat -- whose bloc’s votes were crucial for Salam’s appointment -- stressed "the need to communicate with everyone and launch a dialogue with everyone," emphasizing that "no one can eliminate the other."

Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel called after meeting Salam for a "government of competencies." He said what's happening is not aimed at excluding Hezbollah and Amal.

MP Michel Mouawad of the Tajaddod bloc meanwhile said that "the presence of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement in the opposition does not mean that it is an exclusion of Shiites."

"We hope this government will contain the biggest number of political blocs, and it would be better if everyone joins it, so that it carries out a national reconciliation," Mouawad added, after his talks with Salam.

Salam is scheduled to hold the second day of consultations on Thursday.

Salam said Tuesday that he will not marginalize any side in Lebanon, an apparent reference to Hezbollah, which in past years opposed his appointment as prime minister and this year indicated its preference for another candidate.

"I'm not an advocate of exclusion but rather unity and my hands are extended to everyone so that no citizen feels marginalized," Salam stressed.

Salam, who has served as the head of the International Court of Justice, said that he will work on spreading the state’s authority on all parts of the country.

Over the past years, Hezbollah and its allies have blocked Salam from becoming prime minister, casting him as a U.S.-backed candidate.

“The time has come to say, enough. Now is the time to start a new chapter,” Salam said on Tuesday, adding that people in Lebanon have suffered badly because of “the latest brutal Israeli aggression on Lebanon and because of the worst economic crisis and financial policies that made the Lebanese poor.”

“Both my hands are extended to all of you so that we all move forward in the mission of salvation, reforms and reconstruction,” Salam said.

Neither Salam nor Aoun, an army commander who was elected president last week, is considered part of the political class the ruled the country after the end of the 1975-90 civil war.