As soldiers fire in Tripoli, Miqati gets ready to become new PM in Beirut
Beirut (AsiaNews) – Just before noon today, soldiers fired in the air to disperse demonstrators who were attacking an al-Jazeera crew in Tripoli, northern Lebanon. Many people now fear that they might be the first shots in the current crisis. At the same moment, a majority of the members of Lebanon’s National Assembly indicated their support for him, following a round of talks by President Michel Suleiman to solve the crisis that began on 12 January when ministers from the Hizbollah-led ‘8 March’ movement resigned.
Although the announcement will be officially made later today, the new prime minister has its job cut out. In the streets, especially in Tripoli, supporters of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri staged what they called a “day of wrath” against Hizbollah. Hariri’s ‘Future Movement’ party has already announced that it would not join a Miqati-led government.
A Harvard graduate, Miqati is a telecommunications tycoon who briefly served as prime minister in 2005 when Syria finally pulled out marking the end of its hold on the country. A Sunni, as the constitution requires for the post of prime minister, Miqati describes himself as a “brother” to Hariri, who is backed by most Sunnis. However, he is also a friend of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
By designating him as their candidate, Shia-based Hizbollah and its allies, who now include turncoat Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, achieved several goals. They destabilised the Sunni group, they gave themselves a more moderate image, and allayed fears (as much as that is possible) in Saudi Arabia and among the outgoing prime minister’s Western backers since Miqati has interests in Riyadh too.
For now, the Saudis are not saying anything, whilst the United States said it would “reserve judgment” about a government backed by a party Washington considers a terrorist group. France in the meantime noted that Lebanon is a country whose independence must be protected.
From the start, Miqati said he was a candidate of "moderation and accord” and that his candidacy was “not a challenge against anyone”. However, Hariri reacted to such remarks by pointing out that he was designated by Hizbollah.
For its part, the self-styled ‘party of God’ said it wanted a national unity government, an unlikely prospect under current circumstances. Some sources are saying that Miqati is planning to form a government of technocrats.
One of the first items on the new government’s agenda will be the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Set up by the United Nations Security Council to investigate the assassination of Rafik Hariri, father of the outgoing prime minister, the tribunal has received the names of the people to be indicted from its chief prosecutor.
Although the names are still a secret, certain leaks indicate that they include officials from Hizbollah, which reacted to the rumours by threatening anyone who would dare touch one of its members. In fact, before its ministers quit, it called on the old government to reject the findings of the tribunal, which it accuses of being a tool of Israel and the United States.
“We are at a dangerous moment in the history of Lebanon,” said Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, caught in “a vicious cycle and a regional power game that is greater than us.”
“Lebanon,” he noted, “has already faced divisions in the past and its pluralist formula has already been shaken. However, never has it faced so great a confessional danger as it does now.” (PD)
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