March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soueid said that the opposition will confront the cabinet if it does not commit to a UN-backed court probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others.
“In case the government of Hezbollah does not commit to the decision of the international tribunal and hand over those wanted by the court in the next month, and if the [cabinet] does not pay Lebanon’s share of funding the tribunal and insisted on withdrawing its judge like Hezbollah wants, then the March 14 alliance will step up [its efforts to confront the cabinet] on two levels,” he said in remarks published Friday in As-Seyassah Kuwaiti newspaper.
It will confront the government “on the political and popular base levels,” he said, adding the opposition will call on the people to take to the streets “to pressure the government into committing to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and its decisions and to prohibit the [cabinet] from putting Lebanon in the middle of an international confrontation.”
He also said that he does not fear the occurrence of strife in the country, adding that Hezbollah is in a situation in which it cannot do anything and “can no longer threaten the country’s security and stability.”
Soueid added that March 14’s opposition movement will be peaceful.
The STL indicted four members of the Iranian-and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in connection to the assassination of Rafik Hariri, but the party’s secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, ruled out their arrest.
PM Najib Mikati’s cabinet, which was formed on June 13 and dominated by the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance, was granted parliament’s vote of confidence last week, as the PM vowed his cabinet would cooperate with the UN-backed tribunal.
However, Mikati's program includes an ambiguously worded clause stipulating that Lebanon will "respect" international resolutions as long as they do not threaten peace and stability.
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