Kataeb bloc MP Sami Gemayel said on Monday that his party will support bringing down the newly-formed cabinet if Prime Minister Najib Mikati does not vow to commit to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in Tuesday’s parliament session.
“It seems that Mikati does not have the will or the capacity to take into account the [will] of the Lebanese people in his cabinet’s Ministerial Statement, [which is disregarding] the bloodshed of martyrs,” Gemayel told Future News television, in a reference to the ministerial statement clause that reportedly says that the cabinet will commit to the STL “in principle.”
“Our main condition to help Mikati form a national-unity government is to commit to the STL,” which is probing former PM Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination, the MP added.
Gemayel also said that Hezbollah and its allies in the March 8 coalition must cease to have utter influence on the cabinet’s decisions.
Mikati said earlier in the day that March 14 parties used the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri “to pour their anger and hatred on the cabinet,” in response to the coalition’s Sunday meeting.
Leading figures of the March 14 coalition met on Sunday evening in Beirut and called on Mikati to either commit to the tribunal or step down.
Last Thursday, the STL handed Attorney General Said Mirza arrest warrants for four members of the Iranian-and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in connection to the Rafik Hariri murder.
The whereabouts of the four remain unknown.
No comments:
Post a Comment