Rifi: I Cannot Stay in a Hizbullah Controlled Government
In a telephone call with Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc chief Fouad Saniora, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi reiterated more than once that his resignation from the cabinet was driven by his inability to carry on in a government “governed by the will of Hizbullah.”
“I can not tolerate this anymore. Things have reached their edge. Even our relations with Saudi Arabia are threatened now after we defied the Arab consensus,” As Safir daily quoted Rifi as saying.
“I can no longer be taken advantage of by Hizbullah. The cabinet is incapable of solving the waste crisis and has done nothing in the case of (former Minister) Michel Samaha and we are helpless and cannot even protect our relations with the Arabs. We have turned into a Hizbullah government,” added the Minister.
To that, Saniora told Rifi that he should have coordinated with the March 14 camp on his decision to resign. “We might have submitted a collective resignation,” he said, adding “your resignation came against the March 14 orientation.”
“I have urged everyone to resign and I hope that ministers of al-Mustaqbal and March 14 would do so. Let us leave the government standing instead of falling in the trash file,” said Rifi pointing that the cabinet has failed over four sessions to discuss the referral of the Samaha file to the Judicial council as per his request.
The Justice Minister stressed that the cabinet decisions have become controlled by Hizbullah. He stated: “We are being used by Hizbullah. I do not accept my presence in a cabinet that functions in Hizbullah's favor to be taken advantage of,” he noted stressing that he should have submitted his resignation long before, dubbing the discussions on the trash file at the cabinet as “shameful.”
Rifi submitted his resignation on Sunday in the wake of the release of Michel Samaha from jail who was released in January after being caught red-handed in 2012 while smuggling explosives from Syria to Lebanon to carry out attacks in the country.
He was sentenced in May 2015 to four-and-half years in prison, but in June, the Cassation Court nullified the verdict and ordered a retrial.
His release in early 2016 sparked uproar in the country with Rifi vowing to refer the case to the International Criminal Court after his demand to refer it to the Judicial Council was unheeded.
Saudi Arabia said on Friday that it has halted a $4 billion programs for military supplies to Lebanon in protest against Hizbullah's policies and recent diplomatic stances by the Lebanese foreign ministry.
The move brought widespread condemnation from the March 14 alliance against Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement, whose leader is Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil.
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Source: Naharnet
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