March 14 Slams Miqati: Do You Need to Adopt Rhetoric of Those Who Backed You for Premiership?

The March 14 General Secretariat slammed on Monday Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s response to Sunday’s Bristol meeting, saying that it was surprised by the “premier’s ability to mislead the public.”

It said in a statement: “Miqati tried through his press office to lead the public to believe that his government is keen on achieving justice and uncovering the truth through the Special Tribunal for Lebanon based on article 14 of its policy statement.”

“That article stipulates that the cabinet will follow up on the STL’s actions away from politicization and revenge,” it continued.

“It seems that Miqati has nothing to do with the policy statement that represents his cabinet, and he may not have read it because it contradicts what he mentioned today in his statement,” it noted.

“Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s latest speech is more in line with the policy statement than the premier, prompting us to wonder who is the government’s real prime minister?” the March 14 General Secretariat asked.

Addressing Miqati, it asked: “Do those who demand justice for martyrs exploit their blood?”

“We would like to remind Miqati that he has exploited the votes of those who voted for him during the parliamentary elections and turned against them,” the statement said.

“Does he have to employ the rhetoric of those who voted for him to the premiership by labeling the opposition as saboteurs?” it asked.

Earlier on Monday, Miqati snapped back at the March 14 alliance accusing its members of carrying out a crime against the nation and attacking the cabinet for being unable to confront the truth that they lost power.

“Sabotaging the nation is a crime,” Miqati said in a statement. “It is the national responsibility of everyone to preserve civil peace and stability and not to sabotage or make fictitious heroic acts that stir tension.”

According to Miqati, the March 14 forces that met at the Bristol hotel in Beirut on Sunday “used the crime against former Premier Rafik Hariri to pour their anger and their hatred on the cabinet for known reasons.”

He said the March 14 forces had expected that Miqati’s government would not be formed and the country would remain in a vacuum over the “failure” of the caretaking cabinet of Premier Saad Hariri to carry out its duties.

The prime minister reiterated that clause 14 of the policy statement stresses the right to achieve justice in ex-PM Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination unlike what the March 14 statement said.

The Bristol conferees said that Miqati’s government disavowed in its ministerial statement the demand for justice to which the Lebanese state has committed itself in previous policy statements.