Lebanon's Hariri rejects 'consensual candidate'

Lebanese Future Movement rules out joining government led by Hezbollah-named candidate.

Middle East Online

By Natacha Yazbeck - BEIRUT

'There is a candidate named Saad Hariri' Lebanon's acting Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday ruled out joining a government led by a Hezbollah-appointed candidate, his office said, as consultations on nominating a new premier were underway. "The (Hariri-led) Future Movement announces its refusal to participate in a government headed by a candidate named by the opposition," the statement said, referring to Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies. The statement came as former premier Najib Mikati was tipped as the top candidate for premiership after he secured the backing of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which brought down the government of its political rival Hariri earlier this month. Officials said the billionaire telecom tycoon was Hezbollah's favoured candidate given his position as a centrist politician who has good relations with the country's feuding parties. Mikati, a former premier, was elected to parliament in 2009 as an ally of Hariri. He is a major shareholder in South Africa's MTN Group and runs the French fashion line Faconnable. Mikati, 55, submitted his candidacy on Sunday saying he was coming forward in the hope of being a consensual candidate. But Hariri's Future Movement said there was no such thing as a "consensual candidate." "There is a candidate named Saad Hariri, and then there is another candidate nominated by the opposition," the statement said. "Those are the only two choices." In an apparent bid to reach out to Hariri, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday said his party and its allies had no intention of excluding their political rivals from the new cabinet. "If our candidate is successful, we will ask him to form a government of national partnership in which all parties will participate," he said. But Hariri, who is running for a second term in office against Hezbollah's candidate, shot down any chances of forming a unity government. "What came before the parliamentary consultations are completely different from what will come afterwards," read the statement. President Michel Sleiman on Monday began two days of consultations with the country's 128 MPs, who will name their pick for premiership. Hezbollah on January 12 forced the collapse of Hariri's unity government when it pulled 11 ministers from the cabinet. The walkout capped a long-running dispute over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a UN-backed probe into the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. Hezbollah has said it expects the tribunal to indict members of the Shiite party in the murder and has warned of grave repercussions.