Sunni Opposition Reiterates ‘Representation Right’, Rejects ‘Infringement’ on Hariri’s Powers
Sunni lawmakers not affiliated with al-Mustaqbal Movement voiced calls on Friday for their representation in the new Cabinet, nevertheless rejecting infringement on the powers of the Prime Minister.
“What we are asking for is not an obstacle (hampering the government formation) but an emphasis on the right for representation of a sect that has elected Sunni MPs not affiliated with al-Mustaqbal,” Sunni MP Faysal Karami told reporters after the meeting.
The opposition MPs stressed the need “to speed up the formation of a national unity government that excludes none of the political parties,” he stressed.
On the other hand, Karami emphasized that impinging on the Prime Minister’s powers are totally rejected.
“We reject any encroachment on the powers of the premier and ask him not to succumb to foreign or internal pressures,” he added.
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri was tasked with forming a government on May 24.
His mission has since been delayed because of wrangling between political parties over ministerial shares in the Cabinet.
The main obstacles are over the representation of the Druze and Christians, as well as lawmakers not affiliated to Hariri’s al-Mustaqbal Movement.
24 August 2018, 15:19
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Ziad Al Rahbani coined a word -بيفرد- that perfectly reflect the Sunni Opposition.
24 August 2018, 16:41
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Lebanese Sunnis have implicit faith that their Christian masters (per Article 24 of the Constitution which gives half of Parliament to Christians regardless of elections) will not abuse them in any way, and if that doesn't work, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has many jet aircraft with Ukrainian pilots just waiting for the call to arms.
24 August 2018, 16:48
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The sunnis worst mistake was taking the side of the PLO during the war rather than defend the republic. I say scrap the Tai'f accord. This coming from I, a shiite
27 August 2018, 00:38
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So you call yourself a Sunni Muslim. What do you think of the Article 24 set-aside of half of the Lebanese Parliament to "Christians"? Either more than half of Lebanese are Christians (but who's counting?) and the set-aside is over-generous, or there are exactly equal numbers, so it's redundant, or Christians are less than half, which means they're holding some threat over the heads of the majority to extort this pay-off. I read it as a hold-over from French colonialism, which assumed Lebanese Christians would do France's bidding. So where does this leave Lebanese Sunnis who go along with the set-aside? But the big question is, why does the Shia majority go along with it?
27 August 2018, 00:51
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My guess is that most commenters on Naharnet "believe" (idolatrously) that Israel will last a thousand years as a racist state, so that it's impossible to have justice next door. I suggest that such an Israel has already collapsed. As Jefferson said, slavery depends on intimidation. Israel lost its nerve in the jaws of Hezbullah in 2006, but its blood-urges have steadily declined from their high point in the '80's, ranging from the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor (1981) to the US government's getting the UN GA to retract its "Zionism is racism" resolution (1991). Israel is now playing for time while it convinces itself to adopt a regime of civil rights, entailing minority status for Jews in Palestine. At the best of times, democracy is a slow process.
