Berri hints that the Syria-Saudi deal is still alive; initiative not dependent on one person

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati

BEIRUT – Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati promised to form a new government to maintain national unity, offering to cooperate with all parties to confront major challenges facing the country, including the explosive issue of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Meanwhile, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri appealed to his supporters to stay calm following two days of nationwide public protests against Mikati’s nomination to the prime minister’s post. At least 51 people were injured in a “day of rage” across the country, but mostly in the north, according to Lebanese Red Cross officials.

“I affirmed to the president that cooperation will be complete between us to form a new government which the Lebanese want, a government to maintain the unity of their country and their sovereignty, achieve the solidarity of its people, protect the coexistence formula and respect the constitutional rules,” Mikati said in a statement minutes after he was appointed by President Michel Sleiman to form the new government following the collapse of Hariri’s Cabinet on Jan. 12.

Mikati said he would begin steps to form a government by making traditional calls on former prime ministers, including Hariri. After that, he said he would start consultations with parliamentary blocs on the shape and size of the government.

“I have full hope that these consultations will lead to the formation of the new government soon. I am looking forward for a government that will face all the challenges and live up to the aspirations and hopes of the Lebanese,” he added.

Mikati was the March 8 coalition’s candidate for the prime minister’s post against Hariri. The outcome of President Sleiman’s two-day binding consultations with lawmakers on their choices for prime minister showed 68 lawmakers backed Mikati against 60 for Hariri. Hariri said as consultation began that he would not participate in any government formed by a March 8-backed candidate.

Hariri’s Cabinet was brought down following the resignations of eleven ministers of Hizbullah and its March 8 allies in a long-running dispute over the STL’s indictment, which is widely expected to implicate some Hizbullah members in Hariri’s assassination, raising fears of sectarian violence that could spread through-out the whole region.

Speaker Nabih Berri indicated that the Saudi-Syrian settlement initiative, which failed to materialize earlier this month, was still alive.

Asked whether Mikati had won Saudi support for his candidacy to the premiership, Berri told the Daily Star newspaper of Lebanon: “The S.S. (Syrian-Saudi initiative) does not depend on the presence of  a single person.”

Billionaire Mikati, a telecoms tycoon with close ties with Syria, said “unconventional steps” were required to resolve the country’s months-long political crisis and restore the uniting roles of state institutions, particularly the Cabinet.

Mikati, a lawmaker for the northern city of Tripoli who served briefly as prime minister in 2005 following Rafiq Hariri’s killing, said he extended his hand to all Lebanese leaders to cooperate to put an end to political divisions.

He urged his supporters and others in Tripoli, which was the scene of violent public protests against Mikati’s nomination, to stay calm and not to violate ordinances and undermine security.

Asked how he would deal with the issue of the STL, which has sharply divided the Lebanese into two rival camps, Mikati said: “This is a divisive issue among the Lebanese that can be solved only through dialogue.”

In an address to the Lebanese, Hariri rejected riots that occurred in Tripoli and urged his supporters to stay calm.

“As I express my thanks and appreciation to every free citizen who committed himself to this path and decided to raise his voice, condemning the attempts of hegemony over our national decision and the decision of Tripoli in particular, I consider it my duty to announce my total rejection of all forms of riots and lawlessness which accompanied the popular movements and unfortunately tarnished these movements noble national goals,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is reconsidering how it bankrolls Lebanon after Hizbullah-backed Mikati won the prime minister’s post where the U.S. has spent millions promoting a pro-Western agenda. The administration has begun a broad review of political, economic and military assistance to Lebanon in light of the collapse of Hariri’s government, U.S. officials in Washington said. The Obama administration will probably cut or realign that aid if Hizbullah takes over key ministries under Mikati.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that a Hizbullah-controlled government in Lebanon would “clearly have an impact” on ties with the United States. 

“Any decision to denounce the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and end Lebanese support for it would be extremely problematic for the U.S.,” the U.S. official said.

“The make-up of Lebanon’s government is, as we’ve repeatedly said, a Lebanese decision, but this decision should not be reached through coercion, intimidation, threats of violence.  Hizbullah, backed by Syria, engaged in all three to achieve its political goals,” he added.

Mikati said his government would not seek confrontation with the West amid mounting concerns over Lebanon’s ties with the international community as the new cabinet is expected to halt cooperation with the U.N.-backed tribunal investigating statesman Rafiq Hariri’s assassination.

“Why make assumptions that we are set to confront the West? What are the basic factors for such a confrontation? How do such rumors emerge? I am surprised,” Mikati said.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that Mikati’s appointment to form a new Cabinet  provided  “a real chance” for feuding Lebanese parties to close ranks and form a government of national salvation.

He rejected accusations by the March 14 camp that Mikati was Hizbullah’s candidate to the prime minister’s post and that his government would be controlled by the party.

“The biggest lie and the biggest fraud is to accuse Hizbullah that it wants to control the state and the government. As far as Hizbullah is concerned, we have a clear vision. We have supported Mikati’s candidacy and we call on him to form a government of national salvation and partnership,” Nasrallah said. “The Lebanese today have a real chance to close ranks with no winner or defeated. Let us cooperate together.”

Berri said it was too early to talk about the shape of the new government, but he expected it to be smaller than the 30-member caretaker Cabinet.

He called for the formation of a national salvation government or a partnership government. He said he hoped Hariri would participate in such a government. “If Hariri does not want to participate, it’s his right to join the opposition. We hope it will be constructive opposition,” Berri said.

He said Mikati enjoys a wide representation within the Sunni community, noting that he won 57,000 Sunni votes in the 2009 parliamentary elections and came out the top vote getter in his region.