Miqati Says Ready to Resign if Foes Agree on Formation of Unity Cabinet

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed that he is ready to step down if the March 14 coalition agrees to participate in a national unity cabinet, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“I agree on the formation of a new government if the resignation of my cabinet is a solution to the current political crisis,” french parliamentary sources told the daily.

Miqati expressed consent over the formation of a new cabinet but “rejected any political vacuum” in the country.

The lingering political crisis between the March 8 coalition and the March 14 opposition erupted on Oct. 19 when Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch chief Wissam al-Hasan was assassinated in a car bomb explosion in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district.

The opposition insists on the resignation of Miqati's government neutral salvation cabinet as a prerequisite for attending a new round of the national dialogue sessions at the Baabda palace.

President Michel Suleiman launched a series of consultations with the national dialogue participants to lure back the March 14 opposition coalition to the all-party talks, however, his efforts reached a standstill.

Miqati headed to Paris on Sunday where he met on Monday with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault at the beginning of his official trip to France.

He stressed that after meeting with Ayrault that “the situation in southern Lebanon, Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the Lebanese government's policy of disassociation from the Syrian crisis will ensure Lebanon's stability.”

He is expected to hold talks on Tuesday with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and with President Francois Hollande at the end of his three-day official visit on Wednesday.