Miqati’s Circles Deny PM-Designate Under International Pressure
Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s circles denied that the international community was pressuring the billionaire businessman, saying ambassadors meeting with him are only hoping that he would form a balanced cabinet that would preserve stability in Lebanon.
Miqati asked the diplomats, including U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly, to judge him only after the formation of the government, the circles said.
Asked if the U.S. had hinted to Miqati not to include any statement that supports the resistance in his policy statement, they said: “It is too early to discuss about the policy statement. The focus is now on forming the cabinet.”
“The statement is not the monopoly of the premier-designate … There are also the viewpoints of the president and the other political forces inside the cabinet,” they said.
Meanwhile, An Nahar daily quoted informed political sources as saying that the primary consequence of the ongoing bickering between the March 8 and 14 forces was the delay in the formation of the cabinet.
The struggle between both coalitions would force Miqati and President Michel Suleiman to quit their centrist policies and join the new Hizbullah-led majority, the sources said.
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