Miqati Wraps up Tripoli Visit: I will Study with Suleiman Available Options if March 14 Boycotts Cabinet

Premier-designate Najib Miqati stressed on Sunday that the participation of the March 14 forces in his government was “necessary” but said he would study with President Michel Suleiman other available options if the coalition decided to boycott the cabinet.

Miqati made his remark as he wrapped up a two-day visit to the northern port city of Tripoli. The prime minister-designate hadn’t visited his hometown since his nomination a month ago.

The March 14 participation in the government is “necessary” to “cooperate in solving a lot of problems,” Miqati said. “If the March 14 team decided to boycott (the cabinet) then I would study with the president all other available options and choose the most appropriate.”

He said he prefers to form a technocrat government but it would be “the last option.”

Asked about the country’s banking sector, Miqati said: “The Lebanese banking sector is not being targeted.”

Central Bank governor Riyad Salameh is solving the issue of the Lebanese-Canadian Bank ,which earlier in the month was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department a “primary money laundering concern," he added.