Opposition MPs to Miqati: History Will not Have Mercy on You

Al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Jean Oghassabian told Premier Najib Miqati on Wednesday that he should quit his post but if he decides to stay “history will have no mercy on you.”

The international tribunal isn’t an enemy, he said in his address at parliament during the second day of discussions of Miqati’s policy statement.

“We believe in partnership and pluralism,” said the lawmaker, who is a member of the March 14-led opposition.

“I reject that weapons be used in everyday politics,” Oghassabian told parliament, saying he also refuses a culture of fear in political life. He announced that he wouldn’t give his confidence to the government.

Another opposition al-Mustaqbal bloc legislator, Mohammed al-Hajjar, said that the primary objective of the government is to topple the international tribunal.

“All what this government did was to exercise pressure on us,” he said in his address. Turning to President Michel Suleiman, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and Miqati, al-Hajjar said: “Centrism is an attempt to escape justice.”

“I withhold my vote of confidence. Yes for the collapse of this cabinet!,” he added.

MP Khaled al-Daher who spoke at parliament by midday Wednesday, criticized the support provided by some Lebanese politicians to the Assad regime in its crackdown on protestors in Syria.

He said the resistance should not be monopolized by one group and it is the right for all Lebanese.

Another al-Mustaqbal lawmaker, Jamal al-Jarrah told parliament that Lebanon is in need for “white hearts and not black shirts,” in reference to Hizbullah.

He accused Miqati’s cabinet of preparing for civil war through the current policy statement.

Former PM Rafik Hariri was actually killed, not “in principle.”

“Lebanon was liberated from hegemony so don’t restore it. The STL was actually formed so don’t abandon it as you are actually paving the way for a new civil war,” he said.

As for Lebanon First bloc MP Assem Araji, he said in his address that the slogan of the government was to stay away from Lebanon’s commitment to international resolutions.

The parliament session to discuss the government policy statement resumed later on Wednesday with Mustaqbal bloc MP Ziad al-Qadiri taking the podium.

He lamented in his statement Miqati’s failure to form a technocratic government, “which would have helped bridge the gap between the Lebanese.”

He criticized the policy statement for failing to respect the STL and justice, noting that it instead set the arms “that the violated the people’s dignity as a priority.”

“Our demand for justice and the truth is the basis for defending stability and civil peace,” Qadiri said.

Addressing the premier, he stated: “I don’t see any good in your cabinet.”