Veto Right Is Key Problem Of National Government In Lebanon: Expert

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 30 /Trend News, U.Sadikhova /

The main problem in forming a national government in Lebanon could become the question of providing the right of veto for the opposition, since this will be the main point of influence of the new Cabinet of Ministers on the situation in the country, said Paul Salem, Director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"The another tricky issue in forming national unity government is the veto, because that is the really concern in the majority coalition [pro-Western March 14 coalition] that will be able to govern or will be able paralyzed, Salem told Trend News in a telephone conversation from Beirut. - That is really the matter of the formation of government rather than one policy issue."

The head of the Lebanese parliamentary majority March 14 and pro-Western Al-Mustaqbal Movement of Saad al-Hariri on Tuesday completed negotiations with the President of Lebanon Michel Sleiman to form a new government, Al Jazeera website reported. 
 
Al-Hariri, son of assassinated Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, won the parliamentary elections on June 7. The opposition March 8 bloc, which includes Hezbollah Party, which has the veto right, recognized the defeat in the elections, but won 11 seats in the Parliament.
 
Al-Hariri and the leader of Hezbollah Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah held talks on how to solve disputes in the formation of a national government this week, for the first time over the last five years, the website of Al-Mustaqbal reported. However, details of the meeting are not reported.

Head of Beirut office of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Salem, considers that the process of forming national unity government is complexed, it is not very easy but there is a general consensus in the country and among the backers of the main parties in Lebanon that national unity government is the best reformed now.

He added that despite Israel's warnings about Lebanon's responsibility for Hezbollah's military actions if it joins the government, the pro-Western parties should not break the process of national unity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that in case of Hezbollah's military actions against Israel, Lebanon will be responsible for it because the party is part of the government of Al-Hariri. During the second Lebanon war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah, official Beirut did not intervene.

Salem said that the feeling is that Hezbollah is already the part of the governing structure in Lebanon, whether it has few ministries in the government or not, will not change the reality

However, the question of the veto right for Hezbollah still remains unresolved in Lebanon. The parliamentary majority requires transfering the veto right to the president, but the opposition refuses.

Salem does not exclude that the ruling bloc of al-Hariri will not agree to preserve the right of veto for Hezbollah, because it would weaken the influence of government in the country in future.

However, the agreement of opposition and the ruling coalition to remove problems in achieving a national unity is a good starting point for the stability in Lebanon in the future.

"The fact that the two coalitions [March 14 and March8] were able to come to peace talks and participated in democratic elections shows achievements in the process of national unity," said Salem.

The clashes in Beirut between supporters of al-Hariri and Nasrallah last spring led to an agreement in Doha, with the mediation of the Emir of Qatar Hamad Bin Khalifa in May. According to the agreement, a national unity government should be established in Lebanon, including pro-Western coalition and pro-Iranian Hezbollah.

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