Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati (top row, L) is congratulated by Hizbullah deputy members after he won 68 out of 128 votes in a vote of confidence on the third day of the parliamentary session in Beirut July 7, 2011. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir

BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government won a vote of confidence in Lebanon’s Parliament Thursday after three days of heated debate over its policy statement.

Officials said 68 MPs voted in the Cabinet’s favor, out of the 128-member assembly. MPs from the opposition walked out of Parliament moments before the vote took place.

Addressing lawmakers shortly before the vote, Mikati said he welcomed constructive criticism by opposition members, but dismissed accusations that he had abandoned his principles.

“The government will be one to unite the Lebanese and will adhere to the spirit of the Taif Accord,” Mikati said, referring to the treaty that ended Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war.

He also rejected claims that his government was responsible for all the problems facing Lebanon. “I would like to point out that power has been in the hands of the new opposition for years.”

Mikati’s government is the first cabinet to be formed by the new majority which is March 8 and coalition of other allies led by the Hizbullah.

Mikati, a business tycoon from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, also held the post of prime minister in 2005, shortly after the Feb.14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The U.N.-backed court probing Hariri’s assassination, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, has been a major point of contention between the previous parliamentary majority, the March 14 coalition led by the Future Movement, and the March 8 alliance which named Najib Mikati to replace Hariri’s son, Saad Hariri, earlier this year.

Three days of discussions preceded the vote of confidence, which was widely expected to pass with a narrow majority. Legislators belonging to the March 14 coalition had urged Mikati in Parliament to either back the STL, which last week indicted four members of Hizbullah in the assassination of Hariri, or step down.

March 14 members’ attack on Mikati’s Cabinet centered primarily on a controversial article contained in the government’s policy statement that deals with the STL.

Mikati vowed to parliament to cooperate with the U.N.-backed tribunal.

“The government confirms it will continue the path of the tribunal… and continue to cooperate with the U.N. Security Council Resolution which set up the tribunal to see justice served,” Mikati said.

He said that his Cabinet’s first priority was to remove illegal weapons from the country’s major cities. Lebanon’s second largest city, Tripoli, has recently seen armed clashes following pro- and anti-Syrian government protests.

Mikati leaves the parliament building under the escort of body guards. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir

“Our government will not neglect the issue of the possession of arms and will not disregard the threat it carries within civilian areas. This issue of disarming the cities is this Cabinet’s first priority after it receives the vote of confidence.”

Mikati also said that the Cabinet would follow in the footsteps of the previous government regarding the Syria-Lebanon relationship, including demarcating the borders, and would address the issue of Lebanese citizens in Syrian prisons.

He also said that time would prove that he is committed to Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty, criticizing lawmakers who accused him of abandoning his principles.

“I will never abandon my principles regardless of the pressure exerted on me,” Mikati said.

Speaking about the country’s battered economy, the prime minister said that he will work on creating a strategic program to shore it up and meet the aspirations of all Lebanese.

“The government will activate a program between the private and public sectors in order to reduce public debt,” he added.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, greeted the afternoon’s events. “This is what I call democracy,” he said, after leaving Parliament following the vote of confidence.