Opposition and March 8 Hold onto Stances amid Standstill in New Cabinet Formation

The March 14 opposition alliance held onto its stance that there can be no national dialogue with Hizbullah's presence at the table of the all party-talks, saying the only solution to the country's political crisis comes through a salvation government.

“Dialogue with the president is open to form a new government,” a high-ranking March 14 source told An Nahar daily about consultations held by President Michel Suleiman with the political parties to guarantee a way out of the crisis.

“But there can absolutely be no dialogue at a table in Hizbullah's presence,” the sources said.

The opposition has said there can be no national dialogue before the government resigns and demanded the formation of a neutral salvation cabinet as the only way to defuse the tension caused by the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Wissam al-Hasan.

Lebanon's political crisis worsened last month after the coalition blamed Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government for al-Hasan's killing in a car bomb blast in Beirut’s Ashrafiyeh district on October 19.

An Nahar's sources hinted that a March 14 delegation could visit Baabda Palace soon to hand Suleiman a letter of goodwill on the president's efforts to resolve the crisis either through the national dialogue or through other means.

But a March 8 majority alliance source told the newspaper that reports about differences on the formation of a neutral cabinet and the division of seats were not true.

“There are no contacts in that regard,” the source said, adding “what is required is to meet the request of the president to (hold) dialogue.”

The Hizbullah-led March 8 coalition “does not mind in discussing the details of a national unity cabinet and this is what MP Walid Jumblat is confirming,” the source said.

Jumblat, a centrist, has a major role in deciding the fate of the majority alliance that makes up the current government.

The majority, backed by some of Jumblat’s 12-member National Struggle Front parliamentary bloc, brought Miqati to the premiership last year after ex-PM Saad Hariri’s national unity cabinet was toppled by the Hizbullah-led alliance.