Hizbollah, allies dominate new Lebanon government

Nearly five months after his appointment, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati yesterday announced the formation of a 30-member Cabinet in which Hizbollah and its allies hold a majority.

Mr Mikati, a billionaire Sunni businessman, announced his line-up following arduous negotiations over key portfolios including the justice and telecommunications ministries, now controlled by the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbollah alliance.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad congratulated Lebanon on the formation of the new Cabinet led by a Syrian-backed alliance and in a telephone call, the embattled Syrian leader congratulated Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on the government’s formation, Mr Sleiman’s office said in a statement.

But Lebanon’s pro-Western opposition bloc, led by former premier Saad Hariri, has boycotted the new Cabinet which it has slammed as a “Hizbollah government”.

Mr Mikati’s Cabinet – which does not include any women – has 19 ministers representing the Shiite militant group Hizbollah and its allies.

The remaining 11 were chosen by Mr Mikati, President Michel Sleiman and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.

The government must now be approved by at least half of the members of Lebanon’s 128-seat Parliament, in which the Hizbollah-led alliance has a small majority.

In a sign of simmering discord between Mikati and the Hizbollah alliance, Druze MP Talal Arslan immediately resigned from his post as state minister in the new cabinet, accusing the premier of being a “liar” and of seeking to deprive the minority Druze of key Cabinet posts.

One of the main challenges facing the new Cabinet will be how to deal with a UN-backed investigation into the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

Hizbollah forced the collapse of the previous government headed by Mr Hariri’s son after he refused to disavow the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The Netherlands-based court is widely expected to indict Hizbollah operatives in the killing, a move the militant group has repeatedly warned against.

Since his appointment in January with Hizbollah’s blessing, Mr Mikati has declined to spell out whether his government will cease all cooperation with the court.

In a clear sign that he does not expect a smooth road ahead, Mr Mikati yesterday urged the Lebanese people to judge his government by its actions and not its individual members or the parties they represent.