Report: Hizbullah Seeks to Block Extension of Suleiman's Tenure
Hizullah is seeking to prevent any attempts to renew the tenure of President Michel Suleiman by targeting him directly in its statements, media reports said on Sunday.
Sources said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper on Sunday that the strong rhetoric that Hizbullah used in its statement on Saturday to reply to Suleiman's remarks was “unprecedented.”
The sources said that the positivity that loomed over the formation of Prime Minister Tammam Salam's cabinet is not expected to be applied on the rest of the constitutional deadlines, including the presidential elections.
The sources expressed fear over the “possible vacuum at the presidential post if the political arch-foes failed to agree on the cabinet's policy statement.”
Suleiman’s tenure ends in May 2014, but the constitutional period to elect a new head of state begins on March 25, two months prior to the expiration of Suleiman’s mandate.
On Saturday, Hizbullah and the president were at loggerheads over Suleiman's recent statement concerning the cabinet's policy statement.
Suleiman said Friday that the land, people and common values formed the country's “permanent equation,” describing that the people-army-resistance equation as “wood.”
Hizbullah's slammed on Saturday Suleiman's comments, accusing him of not being able to differentiate between “what's golden and what's wooden.”
The party said that Baabda Palace has come to require “special care."
Suleiman replied via twitter saying that what Baabda Palace needs is acknowledging the unanimous consensus over the Baabda Declaration that was reached inside its premises.
Presidency sources told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that “differences between the political foes already existed before the debate between Suleiman and Hizbullah.”
The sources stressed that consultation between the rival parties over the ministerial statement are ongoing without ruling out the possibility or consensus over a “general and brief policy statement,” which would exclude the controversial details and matters.
The panel drafting the ministerial policy statement failed during its sixth session on Wednesday to reach agreement over the main points of contention.
The rival ministers bickered anew over the Baabda declaration and the resistance-people-army equation, failing to make any progress.
If Prime Minister Tammam Salam's government, which was announced on February 15, fails to attain the parliament's confidence it will become a caretaker cabinet.
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