Region | Lebanon
Hezbollah 'won't get right to veto' in new government
Outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said yesterday that Hezbollah's right to veto legislation would not be reinstated by the new Lebanese government.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:02 June 14, 2009
Cairo: Outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said yesterday that Hezbollah's right to veto legislation would not be reinstated by the new Lebanese government.
The Shiite movement Hezbollah and its Christian allies last year obtained the right to veto thanks to a deal that allocated them cabinet seats.
The deal was eked out to defuse a power struggle with the rival coalition of Sa'ad Hariri, whose Western-backed coalition defeated the group and its allies in a general election on June 7.
But Siniora said that the deal "has nothing to do with the Lebanese constitution or its democratic system," following talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al Gaith in Cairo.
"This is why this formula was for a predetermined period which ends with the end of the mandate of the current government."
"If a new government of national unity is formed, it will be based on partnership and not on the principle of veto," Siniora said.
On Saturday, a leading Christian member of their alliance said Hezbollah and its allies will not join a new Lebanese government unless they have veto power over its decisions.
Sulaiman Franjieh said that without veto power it would be better to stay in opposition than to join the new government, which is almost certain to be led by a rival US-backed coalition that won a parliamentary election.
"Let them rule and take the whole government, but without us as bystanders in it," Franjieh said in an interview.
"We will not hold things up. But we will refuse to join the government," added Franjieh, whose Marada movement won three of parliament's 128 seats in the election.
Hezbollah and its allies have veto power in the current cabinet, which was formed last year as part of a deal that defused a power struggle with the rival coalition headed by Sa'ad al-Hariri. The Sunni politician is seen as a frontrunner to head the next cabinet.
Veto power was given to the Iran- and Syria-backed Hezbollah and its allies in last year's deal by allocating them 11 of 30 cabinet seats.
"Any formulation not including the third-plus-one is rejected by the opposition. Without the third, the opposition will not participate in the government," Franjieh said, adding that his statement reflected the opposition's position.
Hezbollah deputy leader Shaikh Naim Kassem said this week the Shiite group and its allies had yet to agree a common stance on the new government. He would not comment on whether veto power would be a condition for participation.
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