Lebanese Government Of June 2011

The formation of a new government led by Najib Mikati follows five months of negotiations after the fall of the Saad Hariri government. Mikati formed a controversial 30-minister cabinet. Following ruptures and tensions and two previous threats to resign, Mikati finally resigned on 23 March 2013. Tammam Salam was tasked to form a new government on 6 April 2013.

Background

The Hariri government fell after the withdrawal on March 8 of members from his cabinet following refusals to end cooperation with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. President Michel Suleiman then tasked Mikati to form a new government amid concerns of instability.

Mikati was nominated for office by Hezbollah, Michel Aoun and Walid Jumblatt in January 2011. The cabinet formation process took nearly five months.

Method

Eleven ministers were selected by Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc, giving him alone veto power, along with one merge minister backed by both Aoun's political party and Michel Suleiman's presidential power. This current lineup brings Aoun back to government leadership for the first time since 1990. Six ministers are from Najib Mikati's prime ministerial team. Six ministers come from the other parties in the March 8 Alliance, which include only two ministers each from Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, whose leader, Nabih Berri, sacrificed a Shiite allocation in order to give a portfolio for Faisal Karami, Omar Karami's son. This resulted in a 7/6/5 inequality between the Sunni, Maronite, and Shiite shares in the Government for the first time since the Taif Agreement. Some believe that this inequality favoring the Sunnis showed no intention from Hezbollah and their allies to rule the government. Finally, Walid Jumblatt's share consisted of three ministers, which is no different from the former government.
Regarding the allocation of seats according to leaders' preferences, only Aoun and Mikati benefited from the formation of the new government, due to the increase in slots that they were given.

Composition

Prince Talal Arslan said he would resign after not being appointed the Defense Ministry portfolio. He said that "I cannot participate in a Cabinet in which ikatisays that the Druze do not have a right to be assigned a key ministerial portfolio... ikatiis conspiring against coexistence in the country." He further accused Mikati of trying to ignite a conflict within March 8 by lying to the public and attempting to embarrass Hezbollah by stalling the formation of a new government. Security officials said that his supporters in his stronghold of Khalde blocked the highway leading to the village and fired gunshot rounds in the air to protest Mikati cabinet.

However, the appointment of Faisal Karami was greeted with celebratory gunfire in his hometown of Tripoli.

Mikati's government won a parliamentary vote of confidence on 7 July. The government secured the vote of confidence with 68 out of a 128 votes, after the March 14 alliance members walked out. Mikati then said that "The government confirms it will continue the path of the tribunal...and continue to cooperate in this regard as per the UN Security Council Resolution which set up the tribunal to see justice served."

On 24 February 2012, labor minister Charbel Nahas was succeeded by Salim Jreissati as nominated by Michel Aoun.

Reactions

;Domestic
Amid criticism Mikati said "I will not surrender to the logic of victor and vanquished."The Daily Star Mikati forms 30-member Lebanon Cabinet
/ref> He also said "the motto of this government is ‘all for the country, all for work.'" He further thanked Nabih Berri after the latter had been summoned by Suleiman and Mikati to discuss the conclusion of the cabinet after Berri expressed reservations about such appointments as the sixth Sunni seat, the third Druze seat and the sixth Maronite seat.: "...because if it weren’t for his national sacrifices, the government would not have seen the light f day"

Cabinet Secretary General Suheil Bouji said "This government will be a government for all Lebanon and will work for all the Lebanese people without discrimination." An anonymous source within Hezbollah said that though Hassan Nasrallah made attempts to form a new government he did not know the composition of the new government before its announcement. He added that though Nasrallah respect UN Security Council resolution 1701 the "Army-People-Resistance formula will be maintained" and that "Nasrallah does not think it is unlikely that Israel will attempt to blow up the domestic situation, but he is convinced that no domestic party will escalate the security situation." Berri spoke of the controversy in the West over the new government: " heAmericans, as well as many of their European allies, believed that we will not succeed in forming a government, as was the case with a number of their allies, the Europeans...But the formation of the government came as a surprise and a shock to many in more than one place, both internally and externally. Frankly, the Americans want to get their own man to head the ebanesegovernment...they repeatedly give us lessons in democracy. arch 14has not yet believed, and does not want to believe, that it is no longer in power."

Hariri ordered his Future Movement, while at the same time the 14 March alliance's secretariat general, had set a "management cell" to deal with day-to-day activities in opposition.

Opposition MP Nadim Gemayel said of the government that it was "Hezbollah's and Syria's cabinet." Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni also said the new government was a "government of Hezbollah" and added that it was a "coup d'etats" by Hezbollah. 14 March leader Samir Geagea signaled an intention to bring down the March 8 government as they claimed was dominated by Syria and Hezbollah: "The opposition’s road map with the new government has been clear since the first moment f its formation especially since its nature and identity are clear. It he governmentwill work to isolate ebanonat the Arab and international levels, thus posing a danger to Lebanon. This position stems from the government’s composition. It is a government of Syria and Hezbollah. It is Syria’s government because it was formed to serve as a defense line for the Syrian government o help itface its circumstances nti-government uprising It is Hezbollah’s government because it was formed to face the indictment and the pecial Tribunal for Lebanon" He also criticised Hezbollah's opposition to the STL saying that they were a part of the previous government that approved the country's cooperation with the tribunal. "The STL is not some kind of ‘barber shop’ that anyone can enter and leave whenever he wishes to. layingwith the STL will lead to strife and will place Lebanon in conflict with the Arab and international community. 14 March's opposition to this cabinet will be constructive and democratic."

In contrast to 14 March leaders such as Geagea and Amin Gemayel, who criticised the government as dominated by Syria and Hezbollah, Maronite patriarch Beshara Rai expressed support for the new government and said it should be given a chance to prove itself.

A war of words ensued between Michel Aoun and the Future Movement with Aoun's statement that Hariri had been given a "one-way ticket out of Lebanon and the government nd Hariri'sera of paralysing state institutions in a bid to control the country as over" Following criticism from the Future Movement for the remarks he responded in saying that "the word one-way ticket does not mean hat I am threatening Hariri’s life I was given one of these icketsin 1990 and I rebelled and returned o Lebanon ormerPrime Minister Saad Hariri can rebel and return oo" Future Movement MP Khaled Zahraman said that there was a strain on the level of political discourse due to his claims that Aoun's rhetoric was increasingly more fiery and that the country could be headed towards a crisis. He called for all political parties to abide by certain norms and resort instead to dialogue. He said that Aoun was suffering from what he terms an "illusionary victory" with the entrance of FPM ministers into the cabinet. He also added that the FM could not be accused of corruption and that the party was willing to open all files without any exception. Furthermore, he said that Hariri could not return from France as he claimed that threats against Hariri were serious.

Following Mikati's first visit to southern Lebanon as prime minister, where he met army officers and made assurances of Lebanon's intentions to carry out UNSC Resolution 1701, the March 14 Lebanon First bloc MP Okab Sakr said that " ikatiwanted to assure Israel that Hezbollah’s cabinet will preserve stability and does not want to change the rules of the game, and Hezbollah wanted to deliver a message through Mikati that the party will not target srael" Sakr also added that Hariri absence from Lebanon is preventing political strife.

;Supranational bodies
* - Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams congratulated Mikati for his new government. "During my discussion with Prime Minister Mikati, I expressed hope that the new government would implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanon's international commitments."THE DAILY STAR Mikati forms 30-member Lebanon Cabinet
/ref> UNIFIL spokesman Neeraj Singh said "In 2000, when Israel withdrew from south Lebanon, both the parties agreed to respect the Blue Line. UNIFIL’s mandate doesn’t touch upon a long-term solution etween Lebanon and Israel That’s something that has to be addressed through political means."

;States
* - France urged Lebanon to "adhere to its international obligations, including cooperation with the U.N.-backed TL"
* - Iran has endorsed the new government.
* - Though Israel issued a warning to the new Cabinet to respect what it called "its international legal and border agreements," the Foreign Ministry issued a statement that read "Israel hopes that the new Lebanese government will contribute to reinforcing regional stability and respect for the law along its border. Israel expects the Lebanese government to apply U.N. Security Council resolutions, in particular Resolution 1701, and it calls for the resolution of all outstanding issues through negotiations and with mutual respect." Its spokesman Yigal Palmor later said the statement was not a call for immediate negotiations. "The way to solve everything, one day, is through negotiations. We call on the Lebanese government to adopt the negotiating approach. If they agree to negotiate, then yes, of course we would. If the other side agrees to recognise Israel and to negotiate with Israel and to solve problems through negotiations, then yes, we will negotiate with them."The Daily Star Israel warns Lebanon against violating 1701
/ref>
* - Spain offered its congratulations on the formation of a new government.
* - President Bashar al-Assad was the first to congratulate his Lebanese counterpart on the formation of a new government.
* - State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that "What's important, in our mind, is that the new Lebanese government abide by the Lebanese Constitution, that it renounce violence, including efforts to extract retribution against former government officials, and lives up to all of its international obligations." An anonymous official told ''Al-Hayat'' that the new cabinet was "disappointing" and that the US "does not have any reason to trust that the arch 8-backed cabinetwill be committed to Lebanon’s international responsibilities. We are waiting for the Ministerial Statement o be draftedand for actions o be taken The key issue "is that Lebanon's new cabinet respect its commitments to international agreements, specifically to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing former PM Rafik Hariri's 2005 assassination. he Lebanese government isbacking the Syrian government at a time when Syria is oppressing its people and isolating itself internationally. The only state in the world that is moving toward yriais Lebanon." An unnamed congressman threatened to withdraw financial assistance to Lebanon. Other officials also warned of the loss of US$100 million if they deem Lebanon to have moved "too far into the orbit of Syria and its primary strategic partner, Iran."

;Media

The Canadian-based ''The Globe and Mail'' read the government as a "militant Hezbollah ris ngto power" amid its claims that the government is "dominated by Hezbollah
."

Cabinet issues

As the new cabinet would meet for the first time, chaired by Suleiman, 15 June, the important issues on hand were the formation of a committee to draft a policy statement outlining the government's position on such issues as Hezbollah's arsenal and the STL. The cabinet was also said to discuss the relations with Syria, international obligations vis-a-vis the STL and such U.N. resolutions as 1701. The STL, however, was read as the first test of the new government.

Following the third cabinet meeting to formulate a policy statement for the government, conflict emerged over the STL. The 12-member committee to draft the statement were in disagreement over an article in relation to the STL with some of the members saying there was no mention of the STL and others saying it was included in the draft but not discussed. Information Minister Walid Daouk said the issue had not been discusses. On 27 June, efforts to form a policy statement were intensified to resolve disputes over the STL, amid reports that the STL was planning issuing indictments for five Hezbollah members. However, a fifth cabinet meeting was still unable to formulate a policy statement before the constitutionally-imposed deadline of one-month. The issue of the STL was the last remaining stumbling block. '' The Daily Star'' said that some of the ministers involved said that the STL was facing the same sort of crisis as the government formation talks because of the "inflexibility shown by the team that refuses to include any STL formula in the policy statement," but were instead trying to "buy time."

''BBC
...