Defiant Hariri Calls Himself 'Father of Sunnis', Says 'Won't be Defeated'
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri delivered a defiant speech on Tuesday and accused Hizbullah of blocking the formation of the new government for a reason that is “bigger” than the so-called Sunni representation obstacle.
“There are sides who do not want the country to take a chance and they don’t like the presence of a government and state institutions and they think that sects should come before the state,” Hariri said at a press conference.
“There is a decision by Hizbullah’s leaders to block the government and I regret that the party is playing the role of obstruction,” Hariri added, noting that Hizbullah is defying President Michel Aoun and all Lebanese, “not only Saad Hariri.”
“No one has the right to say that a certain sect’s representation is being monopolized as he monopolizes an entire sect’s representation,” the PM-designate added, in an apparent jab at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
“Hizbullah cannot dictate on me whom I should represent. Had these people (pro-Hizbullah Sunni MPs) run in the elections as one bloc, it would have been my duty to represent them, but this is not the right way to talk to your partner in the country,” Hariri went on to say.
“Things don’t need all this screaming and intimidation,” Hariri added, addressing Nasrallah.
Wondering why Hizbullah “did not name one of them from its own share,” the PM-designate warned that the government is a “national necessity” at all levels.
“I have done my part and let all parties shoulder their responsibilities so that the country can move forward,” he added.
“Today I do not have a solution or else I would have visited the president,” said Hariri in response to a reporter’s question.
“The constitution tasks the PM-designate with forming the government in agreement with the President and there is no third person with them. Period,” a defiant Hariri added.
And describing himself as “the father of Sunnis” in Lebanon, the PM-designate emphasized that he knows what “serves their interest.”
“Saad Hariri will not be defeated despite their attempts that have persisted throughout the past 13 years.” Hariri underlined.
The government was on the verge of formation on October 29 after the Lebanese Forces accepted the portfolios that were assigned to it but a last-minute hurdle over the representation of the aforementioned Sunni MPs surfaced.
Hizbullah has insisted that the six Sunni MPs should be given a seat in the government, refraining from providing Hariri with the names of its own ministers in a bid to press him.
President Aoun -- a Hizbullah ally -- threw his support behind Hariri and rejected the demand during a TV interview, noting that the aforementioned MPs are “individuals and not a bloc.”
Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil is meanwhile trying to convince the rival parties to accept a settlement based on naming a “consensus” Sunni minister.
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