BEIRUT: Both Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Hezbollah stuck to their guns Monday on the divisive issue of funding a U.N.-backed court as efforts are under way to avert a possible collapse of the government by postponing a decisive Cabinet session designed to vote on the payment of Lebanon’s share to the court, political sources said.
“STL financing is a symbolic means to a bigger end: justice, stability and Lebanon’s continuous respect of its international commitments,” Mikati posted on Twitter.
“My position is clear: any resignation isn’t an end in itself and only becomes an option when ability to deliver/serve is undermined,” he said in another tweet.
Mikati returned to Beirut Monday night from a three-day visit to Rome during which he held talks with Pope Benedict XVI.
Meanwhile, a senior Hezbollah official said the party is still adamant on its rejection of funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on the eve of Wednesday’s session of Cabinet, which was set to vote on the funding issue ahead of a Dec. 15 deadline for Lebanon to pay its dues to the STL. The Netherlands-based STL is probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“Hezbollah’s position on the tribunal’s funding is unchanged. We are against the tribunal’s funding,” the official told The Daily Star.
Asked whether Hezbollah’s ministers and their allies in Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement would attend Wednesday’s session, the official said: “Matters are headed toward a postponement of the session to give more time for contacts to find a solution for the crisis over the court’s funding.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
Among the 69 items on the Cabinet’s agenda is one relating to Lebanon’s contribution to the STL’s annual budget. Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi has sent a letter to the Cabinet demanding a loan equivalent to $32 million to pay Lebanon’s share to the STL’s funding.
The funding of the STL is threatening to bring down Mikati’s five-month-old government which is dominated by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies. Putting the tribunal’s funding up for a vote is widely expected to be blocked by Hezbollah and its allies who have a majority in Mikati’s 30-member Cabinet.
Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt renewed his support for funding the STL as a step serving Lebanon’s higher national interest and avoiding the imposition of economic sanctions on the country or internal tension.
“As long as the path of the international tribunal continues, it will be better to follow the road of financing [the tribunal] in order to reduce internal tension,” Jumblatt said in his weekly article to be published Tuesday in the PSP’s weekly newspaper Al-Anbaa.
He reiterated his call on Hezbollah to go straight to the STL to defend four of its members indicted in Hariri’s assassination against accusations which some might see as “unjust.”
Maronite figures criticized threats to bring down the government, calling on the parties making up the Cabinet to close ranks to confront major challenges facing Lebanon, according to a statement issued after a meeting of the institutions representing the community, chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki.
“Lebanon and the region are passing through unprecedented decisive circumstances that require a responsible approach by the political leaders that take into account the delicate situation and the looming dangers,” the statement said.
It added that the Lebanese worries have been enhanced as a result of the escalating stances by various political parties which, if left unchanged, will bring down the government.
“The time is not appropriate for making threats over the government’s resignation at these decisive circumstances. On the contrary, the parties inside the Cabinet are duty-bound to show solidarity and rise to the level of high responsibility in order to ensure the survival of the country in an atmosphere of confidence,” the statement said. It stressed the need for Lebanon to comply with U.N. resolutions and “not to gamble over the fate of the country and its people.”
The statement supported the recent communique issued by the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon that affirmed the necessity of full adherence to international resolutions, including the STL.
The Kataeb (Phalange) Party said the Lebanese split over the tribunal’s funding can no longer influence the STL resolution which had been approved under Chapter Seven and is now in the custody of the Security Council.
“The tribunal is not confined to financing, [but] rather related to approaching justice. Its funding is a matter that has gained the unanimity of the Lebanese and civilian and spiritual officials from all the parties,” said a statement issued after a meeting of the party’s Political Bureau chaired by party leader Amin Gemayel.
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