Berri Says No New Cabinet without Hizbullah
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Speaker Nabih Berri has snapped back at the March 14 alliance without naming it, saying the new government would not be formed without Hizbullah's participation in it.
In remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper published Friday, Berri said it was impossible to form the government without having Hizbullah representatives in it.
The speaker's remarks were an indirect response to calls by some officials in the March 14 alliance to keep the party away from the cabinet line-up.
Al-Joumhouria said that Berri also “mocked” remarks made by March 14 lawmakers on his announcement that the March 8 coalition of Hizbullah, his Amal movement and the Free Patriotic Movement, no longer existed.
Officials, who visited Berri on Thursday, told the newspaper that the speaker held onto his stance of the end of the alliance on “domestic issues.”
The speaker told several local dailies this week that he agreed with FPM chief Michel Aoun on strategic issues such as the resistance but not on local affairs.
Differences between the FPM on one hand and Hizbullah and Amal began emerging late May over the extension of parliament’s term, which Aoun opposed, and more recently over the extension of Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji's mandate.
But al-Akhbar daily said Friday that Hizbullah officials contacted Aoun to confirm that Berri's statement on March 8 is only linked to the negotiations on the shares of the alliance's different members in the new cabinet.
The officials stressed to Aoun that Hizbullah was committed to having a united stance with Amal and the FPM in the decision on whether to participate or not in the government.
The report confirmed rumors that the alliance's members would back Aoun if he didn't get the shares he is asking for.
Sources close to Premier-designate Tammam Salam told al-Joumhouria that both Hizbullah and Amal would stand in solidarity with Aoun if he wasn't represented in the cabinet in accordance with his parliamentary weight.
This means that March 8 parties would still enjoy veto power, which Salam rejects, the sources said.
12 July 2013, 08:22
16
The officials stressed to Aoun that Hizbullah was committed to having a united stance with Amal and the FPM in the decision on whether to participate or not in the government...............
W-hayde 2kayet bree# elzait.
MAFIA SHARKS, they do not give a hoot for the constitution. ANd why should they, their followers will go on chanting labayka ya ....
12 July 2013, 09:01
18
The musical chairs of M8, they are not together and they are not apart, but Nasarallah still calls the shots. “mocked”... was he not the first to announce it?
12 July 2013, 09:38
26
So Lebanese leaders want to set up a government which will include a "party" that is recognised by many countries around the worlds as a terrorist movement.
If this is the situation, they you deserve everything you get.
Unfortunately, the ordinary man/woman in the street don't deserve the killings, car bombs and all the rest.
12 July 2013, 12:15
54
Part 1:
Phillipo, I want to reiterate that as far as I am concerned, you are more than welcome to post here and that your opinion is far more valuable to me then the hateful drivel that is being spewed here matter-of-factly.
Having said that, I actually disagree with you opinion on HA's participation in our government. My wish is to see HA disarmed so that it becomes a regular political party and fight for its cause the democratic way, in parliament. The defense of the country is exclusively the responsibility of the LAF which takes its orders from the civilian government. I also want to see Lebanon negotiate a peace treaty with Israel and put an end to this bloody conflict.
12 July 2013, 14:00
13
jabal10452 Thank you for your positive comments.
I can agree with your point about Hizballah, but only when the military arms of the organisation hands in its arms and leaves just the political arms (Sinn Fein and the IRA in Northern Ireland are a good example of this). Then as a political party they would have a right to be part of the government of the country, leaving the army to take care of the security of the country.
I would also very much like to see Lebanon joining Egypt and Jordan in signing peace treaties with Israel. Both countries have more to gain from peace than from war.
12 July 2013, 12:15
54
Part 2:
We Lebanese must learn to compromise and be pragmatic. We will not succeed in disarming HA by freezing it out of the decision making in the country. HA as a party has a huge constituency. We must show good faith and create mutual trust, and this can only be achieved through having all the stakeholders at the table. You don't solve a conflict through peaceful means by isolating your opponent.
12 July 2013, 14:02
13
From experience of other countries, I don't think that if and when Hizballah become solely a political party, all it present supporters will continue to vote for it.
13 July 2013, 05:47
00
Phillipo u say this cause u don't understand, the Shia love nasrallah. As much as u wish it wasn't true, hizballah is the only reason Shias have a voice in Lebanon. Imagine the whole Shia community is asking for 6 seats in cabinet, while aoun wants 6 seats just for himself. The government only cares about them now is because of HA and their weapons.
Jabal, I fully agree with most of what u say... But the reality is that HA will never give up its weapons.
This idea of giving up and making peace with Israel, would be a defeat for them, why not Israel give up its practices and make peace?... It's a contradiction to what they are, HA is a resistance movement, with a social wing. CONT.
13 July 2013, 05:48
01
Second, make no mistake about it... HA is a division of the Iranian revolutionary guard. There is no becoming part of the Lebanese army, the closest you will get to that is if Lebanon merged with Iran, and we had one army (sarcasm).
Their weapons are part of a geopolitical conflict, Lebanon just happens to be a bystander, we do not have a say in this matter.
Signed wolf...
12 July 2013, 11:45
24
It is about time that -thewolf- finally realised that not everyone who lives outside Lebanon and outside the Middle East and writes on this website is Jewish and/or Israeli.
For him to say "Let the Lebanese handle this problem" just shows how low he has reached, when he and everyone else who has contributed to this website of the recent period know that this problem is not going to go away without drastic steps being taken. Unfortunately, there is no-one on the scene in Lebanon at the moment who can pick up the gauntlet, and say, instead of getting bogged down in the mess of political parties, let us establish a government of bureaucrats for a definite period to help Lebanon stand on its own two feet once again.
12 July 2013, 13:57
02
Help me understand democracy and majority Mr. Berri. It was ok to have a Government without March 14 parties involved such as Mustakbal and Lebanese Forces.
As far as I learned at school in Lebanon all sects should be represented in the Government, not all Parties.
But as usual everybody changes the rules in his favour.
12 July 2013, 18:48
00
MT,
It is true the constitution says all sects must be represented, not all parties. But what you are missing is that if you are not HA or Amal, then you are not shi3a and your killing is halal as proven by the recent incident in front of the Iranian embassy.
So we need to re-write the constitution to account for this anomaly.
12 July 2013, 15:46
04
This dinosaur is out of touch with reality.
Presidents come and presidents go, PMs come and PMs go but when it comes to the Speaker Of The House's turn, we the people are stuck with this dinosaur who by-the-way is deciding the future of our government in these critical times.
12 July 2013, 16:55
02
To the1phoenix, I agree with you.. It has been proven that having M8 or M14 in the cabinet is futile... Let them fight it out in the parliament, but in the cabinet, however, it should consist entirely of technocrats… Stop the bickering and do some work for the sake of people in Lebanon...
13 July 2013, 05:57
00
The problem with the technocrat idea, is that if they came up with a new law, tackling corruption for example, without the agreement of the M-afia leaders, it would never be enforced.
I have a thought... Since there are about 7 or 8 sect leaders, that pretty much rule everything, why not just stop this whole election democracy farce, and just call it for what it is.
12 July 2013, 18:50
01
Agree, and we all know which M is objecting to the technocrat Government. Yes the same M that insists also on veto power and on retaining their arms and communication network.
13 July 2013, 00:28
03
we should make up a cabinet position of minister of allegiance to foreign countries and put a hizb iran puppet up there.
