Lebanon PM seeks to form government

Mikati will form government of technocrats should he fail in his efforts to convince his rivals to join his cabinet.

Middle East Online

Tough task ahead BEIRUT - Lebanon's prime minister designate Najib Mikati on Thursday launched efforts to form a new government, meeting with political leaders including his Sunni Muslim rival Saad Hariri. The billionaire businessman began his consultations by meeting parliament speaker Nabih Berri and was scheduled to later meet Hariri, whose government was toppled by the Shiite Hezbollah two weeks ago. He was then to hold talks throughout the day with representatives of the various parliamentary blocs before wrapping up his consultations on Friday, when he would report back to President Michel Sleiman. Mikati, a moderate lawmaker with good ties to Syria and Saudi Arabia, was backed by the powerful militant group Hezbollah and its allies to head the new government. He has said he would seek to form a cabinet that includes all parties, but Hariri's Western-backed coalition has flatly rejected joining a government headed by a candidate they deem was imposed by Hezbollah. Mikati said that should he fail in his efforts to convince his rivals to join his cabinet, he would form a government of technocrats. The 55-year-old tycoon on Thursday met US Ambassador Maura Connelly to underline his commitment to maintain good ties with Washington, a statement from his office said. "During the meeting, Mikati stressed the importance of ties between Lebanon and the United States and outlined recent developments in Lebanon and circumstances surrounding his candidacy for the premiership and his designation by members of parliament," the statement said. It added that the American diplomat assured him she would convey his point of view to US officials when she travels to Washington in the coming days. Hezbollah and its allies brought down Hariri's unity government on January 12 because of a dispute over a UN-backed tribunal probing the murder in 2005 of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Saad's father. The Iranian- and Syrian-backed party, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington, had been pressing Hariri to cut all ties with the tribunal and Mikati is expected to come under the same pressure. Hezbollah believes that members of the party will be implicated in Hariri's killing, and has denounced the tribunal as part of a US-Israeli conspiracy.