Lebanon struggles to form unity government

Attention now switches to the president as tension increases over a stalemate in agreeing to the composition of a new cabinet.

If an agreement cannot be reached on the composition of the Lebanese cabinet, there is a risk of the country returning to violent sectarian feuding.

BEIRUT // Michel Suleiman, the Lebanese president, was at the centre of efforts by the incoming parliamentary majority to form a viable unity government yesterday despite a seemingly intractable political stalemate that has left the tiny country rudderless for more than three months. The inability of either side to agree on the exact composition of the cabinet has led to increasingly heated rhetoric and even threats on both sides that a failure to agree could return Lebanon to the violent sectarian tensions that plagued the country from 2006 until a deal was brokered for a caretaker government in 2008. More than 150 people were killed in a series of sectarian clashes that culminated with Hizbollah's violent takeover and temporary occupation of West Beirut in May 2008. The incoming prime minister, Saad Hariri, who leads the so-called March 14 alliance that won June's hotly contested elections, on Monday attempted to break the impasse by circumventing the opposition and proposing a cabinet directly to Mr Suleiman. The Hizbollah-led opposition immediately rejected the proposal as unfair to its key Christian ally, Michel Aoun, who has demanded at least five cabinet seats, including the lucrative telecommunications ministry for his son-in-law Jibran Bassil. Mr Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement won 27 of the 128 seats in parliament, which he contends entitles it to a powerful presence in any national unity government. But Mr Hariri has repeatedly rejected these claims, and while he offered Mr Aoun five of the opposition's 10 allocated seats on the 30-member cabinet, he has steadfastly refused to reappoint Mr Bassil, who served as telecoms minister for the past year. Mr Suleiman will almost certainly not accept Mr Hariri's proposal without the endorsement of the opposition. But yesterday, a delegation of opposition politicians meeting the president suggested several amendments to the proposed government, including the return of Mr Bassil. The president was reported to have rejected the argument that Mr Hariri lacked authority to force a cabinet and reiterated that he would not approve any government that lacked widespread support. "This is his constitutional right," Mr Suleiman told the delegation. "You can discuss the content, however." Mr Hariri has not made any substantive public statements about the crisis in months, but his supporters have indicated that he is likely to abandon the effort to form a government should the proposal be rejected. Under that scenario, Mr Suleiman could reappoint Mr Hariri as prime minister and the process would begin again, including the possibility that he would abandon efforts to form a national unity government and propose a technocratic government instead. Although neither Mr Aoun nor Mr Hariri seem to be in a mood to compromise, a centrist bloc of allies from both the majority and opposition has recently picked up efforts to forge an agreement, or at the very least, reduce tensions before violence erupts. The Druze chieftain, Walid Jumblatt, told reporters yesterday that the situation requires patience and could depend on the easing of tensions between Syria, which backs the opposition, and Saudi Arabia, which strongly supports Mr Hariri. He also warned that continued stasis on the issue could endanger Lebanon's otherwise peaceful year. "There is no problem in giving a few more days [to cabinet formation] in order to reach an adequate solution," Mr Jumblatt said. "There is a need for an inter-Arab agreement pending dialogue with Iran." Syria and Saudi Arabia were in a bitter dispute over the murder of Mr Hariri's father, Rafiq, in a 2005 car bombing that also killed 22 other people. A former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri had very close ties to the royal family in Saudi Arabia and they immediately blamed Syria for his murder, which badly strained relations until a minor thaw this year. Nabih Berri, the parliamentary speaker, who is close to Mr Jumblatt and is a key leader of the opposition, also called for calm as the factions work out their dispute. MPs who visited him yesterday said he told them it is "important to lower tension because this affects the country and the issue of cabinet formation negatively", according to the newspaper Al Nahar. Adding to Mr Hariri's troubles, two Christian parties from his own alliance have also come out as critics of his cabinet proposal in large part because their bitter opponent, Mr Aoun, was granted five seats, which is more than they received despite being on the winning side. Officials with the Lebanese Forces party and with the Kata'eb have expressed dismay over the offer to Mr Aoun and as a result plan to oppose the nomination of the Kata'eb MP Sami Gemayal to the position of tourism minister unless the party is given another seat, as well as Mr Gemayal being nominated to a "more important ministry", according to an official with the group. The Lebanese Forces commander, Samir Geagea, also indicated that he was unhappy with his party's being allocated the ministries of social work and industry, which are considered second-tier portfolios. An ally of Mr Hariri's said barring a change of heart by Christians on both sides and progress with regional tensions between Syria and Saudi Arabia, there was little hope for a breakthrough. "We are back to point zero, this conflict about the government formation will last longer and there won't be a government anytime soon," said a former member of parliament, Moustafa Alloush. "Until things start changing regionally, things will not change here in Lebanon. "The problem with Christians of March 14 is [that] they noticed that Aoun was given more than he deserves, so they got annoyed. This made them demand more seats for themselves. They have no problem with Saad [Hariri], but they don't like it when they see Aoun and the Christians in the opposition are getting more seats than the ones in March 14." [e-mail]