BEIRUT: A crucial Cabinet meeting scheduled Wednesday to vote on the funding of a U.N.-backed court could be postponed to give more time for contacts to find a solution to the funding crisis that is threatening to bring down the 5-month-old government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a ministerial source said Sunday.
“Matters are headed toward a possible postponement of Wednesday’s Cabinet session to give mediators enough time to find a solution for the row over the court’s funding,” the source told The Daily Star.
The possible delay of the Cabinet session came as Mikati indicated Sunday that he was adamant on his decision to resign if the Cabinet failed to approve the payment of Lebanon’s share of the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, setting the stage for a prolonged government crisis given the difficulties of forming a new Cabinet.
Meanwhile, a March 8 minister said that efforts have been intensified in a bid to find a solution for the escalating row over the funding of the STL, rating the chances of averting a government collapse at 50-50.
“Efforts and contacts have been launched to find a solution for the problem of funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. These efforts are made by the parties making up the government,” State Minister Ali Qanso told The Daily Star Sunday night.
Asked if the Cabinet will survive after Wednesday’s session given the sharp split among the ministers over the STL’s funding, Qanso said: “All eventualities are possible. The resignation of the Cabinet is possible and its remaining in office is possible. Likewise, Prime Minister Mikati’s resignation is possible and a decision to reconsider his resignation is possible.”
However, a politician close to Mikati said a solution for the problem of the STL’s funding lies in paying Lebanon’s more than $30 million share to the tribunal’s annual budget.
“The solution is either funding the tribunal or Mikati’s resignation. Prime Minister Mikati is unlikely to change his position,” the politician told The Daily Star, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Mikati, who arrived in Rome Saturday for a scheduled meeting with Pope Benedict XVI Monday, reiterated Lebanon’s commitment to international resolutions, including the funding of the Netherlands-based STL, which is probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Lebanon should contribute 49 percent of the STL’s annual budget.
“My position on these [international resolutions] is clear. Lebanon is part of the international community and is committed to international resolutions and cannot be selective in implementing them,” Mikati said in an interview with the Vatican Radio Sunday.
“We are committed to justice. We cannot ignore the crimes and assassinations that happened in Lebanon. Justice is essential to know the truth and stop the crimes,” he said.
Asked to comment on the impact of the STL’s funding on the future of the Cabinet, Mikati said: “[The tribunal’s funding] will be on the agenda of next week’s Cabinet. I hope each minister will assume his responsibility.”
Mikati said that when he meets the Pope Monday, he will reassure him that all Lebanese are committed to living together despite all the dangers looming over Lebanon. “I will affirm during this meeting that Lebanon will remain an example [of coexistence] despite the difficult conditions and dangers to which our region is subjected. The role of Christians has always been an example in strengthening the values of democracy and freedom,” he said.
Meanwhile, speakers at a rally organized by the Future Movement of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to mark the 68th anniversary of Lebanon’s independence lashed out at Hezbollah and the Syrian regime and called on Mikati to pay Lebanon’s share to the STL.
Hariri, who has been living abroad since April, was not present at the rally held at the International Fair ground in the northern city of Tripoli. However, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora delivered Hariri’s speech on his behalf.
“Cooperation with the tribunal and funding it are a right and a duty because the people want the tribunal whether some like it or not,” Siniora said. He called on Mikati to implement what the people want.
Speaker Nabih Berri said that a solution for the crisis over the STL’s funding did not lie with the Cabinet’s resignation.
“A solution is not with the government’s resignation but by finding a solution. Preserving Lebanon can come through understanding among the Lebanese and in the continued quest for a solution and in dialogue,” Berri told a municipal conference held by the Amal Movement at the UNESCO palace Saturday.
Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun renewed his rejection of the STL’s funding: “The international tribunal, which they are exploiting, is a kind of ‘bluff’ … There is no agreement that obliges us to pay the money.”
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