Lebanese politicians accuse Hizbullah of impeding cabinet formation

Lebanese politicians are accusing Hizbullah of blocking the formation of a new government by manufacturing an impasse, demanding that six Sunni lawmakers from the March 8th bloc be represented in the future cabinet.

Lebanon has in recent years seen a sharp political division between the March 14th alliance, which opposes the Syrian regime and the influence of Iran, and the March 8th bloc, which supports them.

Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, a Sunni politician, has refused to give up a portfolio to the March 8th bloc that would otherwise go to his March 14th alliance.

On November 13th, he accused Hizbullah of impeding the formation of a long-awaited cabinet after five months of wrangling, AFP reported.

"It is very regrettable that Hizbullah has put itself in the position of bearing responsibility for hindering the government," al-Hariri said at a news conference.

"I have done my job and the government is ready" otherwise, he said.

On May 24th, after parliamentary elections, President Michel Aoun nominated al-Hariri for his third term as prime minister and tasked him with forming a cabinet. But debates have dragged out the process.

Impeding formation of government

"There is a truth that must be stated without gloves, and the truth is that the formation of the government has hit a major obstacle," al-Hariri said. "Some like to refer to it as the obstacle of the six March 8th MPs, but I see it as much larger than that."

In a televised speech on November 10th, Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah said no government would be formed if the six March 8th MPs were not represented.

"I simply and frankly see it as nothing but a decision by Hizbullah’s leadership to impede the formation of the government," al-Hariri said.

It has become clear that Hizbullah "is working to impede the formation of the government and paralyze Lebanon's politics to serve an Iranian agenda", said Future Movement official and former Tripoli MP Mustafa Allouch.

"Nasrallah said he is not in a hurry to form a government, and his insistence on a cabinet portfolio to represent the six Sunni March 8th MPs is only a pretext," he told Al-Mashareq.

In truth, he wants to "see how the US sanctions will be applied and then decide whether to release the government or not", he said.

Allouch described Hizbullah as an "armed militia that does not yield to the authority of the Lebanese state", noting that party members subscribe to the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist).

This doctrine calls for allegiance to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

Political forces countering Hizbullah

After fresh US sanctions were imposed on Hizbullah and Iran, Nasrallah manufactured a new issue, demanding that the six March 8th MPs be represented in the cabinet, said political writer and researcher Elias al-Zoghbi.

"In fact, this issue is a fig leaf, and Hizbullah seeks one of two things in using it," he told Al-Mashareq, noting that it seeks to either bend the Lebanese government to its will, or impede the government’s formation.

"Hizbullah opted for impeding the formation of the government once it realised that gaining total control over Lebanon is not feasible," al-Zoghbi said.

"Nasrallah pushed the government back into the bottleneck, and the government is now in a severe quandary and cannot get itself out of it... except by stemming Hizbullah's influence," he said.

Only after Iran has started to feel the "disastrous effects" of the US sanctions, will Lebanon regain "a minimum level of its sovereignty and independence in decision making", al-Zoghbi said.

This would be the first sign of Iran's retreat in the region, he added.

When al-Hariri intended to announce his newly formed cabinet, Nasrallah sprung a surprise with his last minute Sunni bloc demand, political analyst Rashid Fayed, who is close to al-Hariri, told Al-Mashareq.

"Nasrallah's speech delays the birth of the government and the beginning of the term of the administration," he said.

Hizbullah's disruption of Lebanese politics is not consistent with the constitution and laws, starting with the weapon the militia possesses inside Lebanon, he said.

The militia is attempting to "hijack the Lebanese political scene as part of an Iranian strategy, and not as a result of internal conflict", Fayed said.