BEIRUT: Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas said Wednesday the
government needed to reach consensus over the issue of funding for the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon and ruled out that the prime minister would resign should
the Cabinet fail to approve the funding.
“Agreeing on the issue [of funding] should be done through
consensus and it should be seriously discussed in Cabinet and all options are
open," Nahhas told Voice of Lebanon radio station, adding that Lebanon was
now at a crucial stage on the issue of funding.
The Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance, which has a majority in the
Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, has repeatedly voiced its
opposition toward the issue of funding the U.N.-backed court probing the
assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In late June the international tribunal indicted four members of
Hezbollah in the assassination of Hariri. Hezbollah denies involvement in the
assassination and says the STL is part of a plot to target the resistance
group.
However, other members in the Cabinet have voiced their support
toward the issue of funding.
Mikati, President Michel Sleiman and ministers loyal to
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt have each stressed the need
for Lebanon to abide by its international obligations, including those related
to the divisive court.
Early this week, sources told The Daily Star that Mikati had
warned ministers that he would resign if the funding was not approved.
Nahhas said Wednesday resignation was not an option for Mikati.
“The resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati is neither an
end nor a means and currently it is not an option," Nahhas said.
Nahhas also said that any decision regarding the STL should be
based on the interest of the country.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel reiterated that
Lebanon needed to fund the tribunal.
“Lebanon must pay its share of funding to the tribunal,"
Charbel told Sawt al-Mada radio station.
“If we ask the United Nations to implement resolutions
concerning the right to return for Palestinians then how can we not implement a
resolution?" he asked.
Despite what repercussions Mikati’s resignation might have on
the country given the instability in the region and neighboring Syria, March 14
coalition lawmakers say that the resignation is Mikati’s only option.
“The Cabinet needs to take a clear stance on the issue of
funding the Special Tribunal and Prime Minister Mikati needs to pass a decision
in favor of funding for the court or go back home," MP Marwan Hamadeh, who
survived an assassination attempt on his life in 2004, said in an interview
with Kataeb-owned Voice of Lebanon radio station Wednesday.
MP Hadi Hobeish, a member of the Future Movement, said Lebanon
was unlikely to fund the court, adding that the March 8 alliance’s decision not
to fund was all that mattered.
“Discussion in the Cabinet will not lead to the funding [of the
STL] and will not change the course of action taken in advance by the March 8
forces," Future Movement MP Hadi Hobeish told Voice of Lebanon.
The issue of
funding for the STL is expected to be brought up in Cabinet on Nov. 30.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Nov-23/154910-consensus-needed-on-issue-of-stl-funding-says-economy-minister.ashx#axzz1eXXlei6q
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