Lebanon's political crisis deepened following the resignation of
five Lebanon's Shiite cabinet members over demands for a Hezbollah
veto power in the executive authority, which were vehemently
rejected by the ruling majority.
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said on Sunday that the
government led by Prime Minister Fouad Seniora was not legitimate
anymore after five Shiite ministers resigned on Saturday, the
official NNA news agency reported.
Seniora's government "is not legitimate anymore, and is opposite
to the constitution's principles ... since all the ministers
representing some faction had resigned," Lahoud was quoted by NNA
as saying.
The five Shiite ministers were Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh,
Labor Minister Tarrad Hamadeh, Health Minister Mohammed Jawad
Khalifeh, Energy and Water Minister Mohammad Fneich and Agriculture
Minister Talal Sahili.
Their resignations came Saturday just followed the country's top
leaders failed to reach agreement on the formation of a "national
unity" government in which Hezbollah and its allies would have a
third-plus-one veto power.
Hezbollah is calling for the formation of a national unity
government to "face up to the challenges with which Lebanon is
confronted." It wants the inclusion of other political groups,
particularly that of its Christian ally, former General Michel
Aoun.
The Shiite group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned to take
to the streets if round-table talks failed to meet his demands.
Nasrallah has said he wants his Shiite party, which has two
ministers in the cabinet dominated by the ruling anti-Syrian
parliamentary majority, and allies to comprise one-third of the
cabinet. That effectively means that Hezbollah and its allies could
veto key decisions.
A two-thirds vote in the cabinet is needed to pass decisions
that are not made by consensus. A resignation of one-third of the
cabinet automatically brings down the government.
"To pave the way for the majority to practice what it wants
freely and so that we don't cover what we are not convinced of
...we announce the resignation of our representatives in the
current cabinet," Hezbollah and Amal said in a joint statement.
Prime Minister Fouad Seniora immediately issued a statement
saying that he would not accept the resignations. He "rejects the
resignation of Hezbollah and Amal ministers... and called on them
to commit their responsibilities," said the statement.
"This government respects the constitution and principles based
on dialogue and consensus, and it insists on cooperating with all
parties in order to find solutions which preserve the interests of
Lebanon," it added.
The resignations also came after Seniora called for an
extraordinary cabinet meeting Monday to endorse the UN draft text
of the international tribunal to try former Premier Rafik Hariri's
killers.
The president opposed the meeting, saying he needed more time to
study the draft. However, Lebanon's local An-Nahar
newspaper reported Sunday that despite Lahoud's boycott, the
anti-Syrian majority in the cabinet will meet to "take the right
stance."
Last year, the Shiite ministers boycotted cabinet meetings for
several months in a dispute with the majority.
"But it appeared that Saturday's move by Hezbollah and Amal was
not final and aimed instead at shaking the political stalemate to
force the majority to accept Shiite demands," said the paper.
(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2006)
