Hizbullah to Attend Cabinet Session, Hopes Government Would not Resign
Hizbullah Minister Mohammed Fneish said the Shiite party will attend a cabinet session set to discuss the funding of the international tribunal on Wednesday but stressed that it continues to reject the payment of Lebanon’s share to the court.
Following talks with Premier Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail, Fneish said: “Miqati continues to hold onto his stance … so do we.”
“We hope that the government would not resign,” he said in reference to Miqati’s warning that he would submit his resignation if the cabinet failed to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that has indicted four Hizbullah members in the Feb. 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and 21 others.
Asked if Hizbullah had asked for additional time to study the funding decision, the minister of state for administrative reform said: “No, we haven’t. Our stance is clear.”
He stressed that the cabinet should stay in power and continue to make achievements.
When asked about Hizbullah’s efforts to preserve its existence, the minister said: “I don’t have an answer to that.”
“Everyone should respect the cabinet’s decision … either through voting or consensus,” he told reporters.
The minister’s visit to Miqati came amid last-ditch efforts to resolve the funding crisis.
“Any resignation isn’t an end in itself and only becomes an option when ability to deliver/serve is undermined,” Miqati said on twitter on Monday.
“STL financing is a symbolic mean to a bigger end: justice, stability and Lebanon’s continuous respect of its international commitments,” he said in another tweet.
The STL funding is among 69 items on the cabinet’s agenda on Wednesday.
As Safir daily quoted Miqati’s sources as saying that the PM hasn’t completely shut the door to suggestions on a solution to the funding crisis.
He is ready to hear all “suggestions that would help fund the STL and that fall in the country’s interest,” they said.
Change and Reform bloc ministers on Saturday made a series of requests as a condition to their participation in the government. Among the demands are cabinet decisions on issues linked to the people’s livelihoods and the implementation of development projects.
Asked about these requests, Fneish said: “I agree with them on the importance of the issues that concern the citizen and are linked to their livelihoods.”
But he stressed that the requests call for the activation of the government work rather than its collapse.
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