As pressure mounts on Lebanon to assume its obligations toward the international community, Prime Minister Najib Mikati seems to be banking on Speaker Nabih Berri’s ability to influence Hezbollah to soften its positions on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
While Hezbollah and its allies in the government maintain their opposition to Lebanon’s payment of its share of funding to the STL, Mikati believes in an under-the-table deal that Berri could broker to avoid deepening divisions within the government ranks, threatening its collapse.
Sources close to Mikati say the prime minister is seeking to prevent March 14 forces from exploiting his government’s failure to fund the court and use it as a pretext to put pressure on him to resign.
Mikati would repay Hezbollah for its covert acceptance to fund the U.N.-backed court that indicted four of its members in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by filing an official request to the U.N. asking it to reconsider the protocol of cooperation between Lebanon and the tribunal.
The sources say such an approach is justified since all Lebanese parties support the tribunal’s quest to serve justice but oppose its politicization and manipulation to serve foreign interests.
Mikati has repeatedly vowed to cooperate with the tribunal and told Western officials on the sidelines of a visit to the U.N. that his government would fund the court despite Hezbollah’s opposition, a position shared by President Michel Sleiman and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt.
Sources say Mikati’s meeting with U.N. and Western officials came as a boost to his status as prime minister, adding that he is expected to visit Saudi Arabia soon to meet with King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz and other high ranking officials.
The sources stress that Mikati has, in less than five months in office, gained trust among his Sunni community, which boosted his position in confrontation with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement.
Mikati’s wager on Berri’s role comes after the speaker sponsored a last-minute agreement to boost wages averting a general strike called by the General Labor Confederation, that March 14 forces could have exploited to oust the Cabinet.
Despite harsh criticism by ministers loyal to the Free Patriotic Movement, accusing the prime minister of seeking short term solutions to deepening crises, sources close to Mikati describe the Cabinet’s decision to increase wages as a courageous step in light of strong reservations by economic committees.
March 14 attempts to embarrass Mikati in light of recent Syrian incursions into Lebanese territories in the Bekaa region were also confronted by the prime minister on a security rather than political level.
While March 14 officials labeled Mikati’s failure to condemn the incursions as a blow to Lebanon’s sovereignty, the prime minister ordered General Security Director Abbas Ibrahim to visit Damascus to coordinate with Syrian security officials to end such incursions.
The visit led to the withdrawal of Syrian military troops that entered the Bekaa region two days ago.
While Hezbollah and its allies in the government maintain their opposition to Lebanon’s payment of its share of funding to the STL, Mikati believes in an under-the-table deal that Berri could broker to avoid deepening divisions within the government ranks, threatening its collapse.
Sources close to Mikati say the prime minister is seeking to prevent March 14 forces from exploiting his government’s failure to fund the court and use it as a pretext to put pressure on him to resign.
Mikati would repay Hezbollah for its covert acceptance to fund the U.N.-backed court that indicted four of its members in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by filing an official request to the U.N. asking it to reconsider the protocol of cooperation between Lebanon and the tribunal.
The sources say such an approach is justified since all Lebanese parties support the tribunal’s quest to serve justice but oppose its politicization and manipulation to serve foreign interests.
Mikati has repeatedly vowed to cooperate with the tribunal and told Western officials on the sidelines of a visit to the U.N. that his government would fund the court despite Hezbollah’s opposition, a position shared by President Michel Sleiman and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt.
Sources say Mikati’s meeting with U.N. and Western officials came as a boost to his status as prime minister, adding that he is expected to visit Saudi Arabia soon to meet with King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz and other high ranking officials.
The sources stress that Mikati has, in less than five months in office, gained trust among his Sunni community, which boosted his position in confrontation with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement.
Mikati’s wager on Berri’s role comes after the speaker sponsored a last-minute agreement to boost wages averting a general strike called by the General Labor Confederation, that March 14 forces could have exploited to oust the Cabinet.
Despite harsh criticism by ministers loyal to the Free Patriotic Movement, accusing the prime minister of seeking short term solutions to deepening crises, sources close to Mikati describe the Cabinet’s decision to increase wages as a courageous step in light of strong reservations by economic committees.
March 14 attempts to embarrass Mikati in light of recent Syrian incursions into Lebanese territories in the Bekaa region were also confronted by the prime minister on a security rather than political level.
While March 14 officials labeled Mikati’s failure to condemn the incursions as a blow to Lebanon’s sovereignty, the prime minister ordered General Security Director Abbas Ibrahim to visit Damascus to coordinate with Syrian security officials to end such incursions.
The visit led to the withdrawal of Syrian military troops that entered the Bekaa region two days ago.
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