Hariri Says Will Run Again for Premier, Vows to Accept Consultations Result
Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri confirmed on Thursday his candidacy for a new term, after Hizbullah and its allies prompted the collapse of his government last week.
"A constitutional process is under way and we will accept its results despite intimidation on the street and elsewhere," Hariri said in a televised address to the nation.
"We will go to the parliamentary consultations organized by the president on Monday and I remain committed as a candidate, in line with my parliamentary bloc's decision," he added.
Hariri accused Hizbullah, without naming it, of seeking his political demise and of rejecting any compromise to break the current impasse that has plunged the country into a deep crisis.
The standoff between Hariri's camp and Hizbullah is linked to a dispute over a U.N.-backed probe into the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, former premier Rafik Hariri.
On Monday, Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare submitted a sealed indictment in the case, which is now being reviewed by STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen.
Hizbullah has said it expects some of its members to be implicated by the tribunal, which the party accuses of being part of a U.S.-Israeli plot.
Hariri said efforts by Qatar and Turkey to mediate in the crisis had failed because of Hizbullah's insistence to prevent his return as premier.
"At dawn, they (Hizbullah) informed the Qatari and Turkish mediators that they wanted one thing ... for Saad Hariri not to return as head of government," he said.
"They put aside all other solutions ... and demanded only that Saad Hariri be prevented from once again becoming premier."
He warned Lebanon stood at a decisive juncture which could plunge the country into an abyss.
"If the Lebanese leaders decide to move away from this abyss, Lebanon will be safe," he said.
Hariri vowed his camp would not impose its agenda through violence as it had chosen the legal path.
"We will not resort to the streets because from the onset we have chosen state institutions," he said.
"One single drop of Lebanese blood is worth more to me than all power," he added.
Consultations on forming a new government are scheduled to begin on Monday but experts and politicians have predicted a protracted crisis that could lead to similar violence as that in May 2008, which brought the country close to a new civil war.
Tension soared on Tuesday after dozens of black-clad unarmed Hizbullah supporters appeared on the streets of several neighborhoods of west Beirut, prompting schools to shut down and the army to deploy in those areas.
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