By Hussein Dakroub
Monday, February 14, 2011

BEIRUT: Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his allies in the March 14 coalition will use the sixth anniversary of the assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri to officially launch a campaign of “fierce opposition” against “Hezbollah’s government” to be formed by Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, a senior March 14 source said Sunday.

Monday has been declared an official holiday by Hariri’s caretaker Cabinet to commemorate six years since Rafik Hariri and 22 others were killed in a massive bombing on Feb. 14, 2005. The assassination has since destabilized Lebanon, causing a major change in the country’s political landscape and led to the reshuffling of alliances.
While supporters of Hariri’s Future Movement have stepped up their activities in various areas in the run-up to Monday’s commemoration, the main ceremony to mark the event will be held at the BIEL complex in Beirut.

Hariri is the main speaker and will deliver the keynote address at the rally, which is expected to draw more than 6,000 people, including ministers in the caretaker Cabinet, lawmakers from Hariri’s Future bloc and the March 14 coalition, and the leaders of the Kataeb (Phalange) Party Amin Gemayel and the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea. Both Gemayel and Geagea will also address the rally and they are expected to underline the significance of Lebanon’s cooperation with the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing Hariri’s assassination.
“In his speech, Saad Hariri will officially launch the era of fierce opposition against the [Mikati] Cabinet now that he is out of the government,” the March 14 source told The Daily Star.

“In addition to upholding the international tribunal, Hariri will also focus on the Saudi-Syrian agreement, revealing for the first time details of this agreement and the reasons that led the deal to unravel,” the source said.

“Hariri will also review developments in nearly six years since the Hariri camp [former Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and Saad Hariri] assumed power in 2005 and the reasons that led to the toppling of his Cabinet,” he added.
The Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance said last month that the Saudi-Syrian-brokered agreement to resolve Lebanon’s months-long political crisis over the STL had reached a dead end, accusing the U.S. of exerting pressure on Riyadh and Hariri to reject the deal. The Saudi-Syrian efforts have since stalled.

By unleashing “a fierce opposition” against Mikati’s forthcoming government, the BIEL rally is expected to put an end to the possibility of the March 14 groups participating in such a government, the source said.
“This development is sure to give Mikati the green light to go ahead with forming a one-sided government dominated by Hezbollah and its allies,” the source added.

In addition to the BIEL rally, Hariri and his March 14 allies are planning to hold a mass rally in Martyrs Square in central Beirut on March 14 to commemorate the movement launched on that date in 2005, in defense of the country’s freedom, sovereignty and independence, the source said.

“The new opposition [March 14 camp] will not use the streets in the campaign against the Hezbollah’s government,” the source added. Beirut MP Ammar Houri of Hariri’s Future bloc said that Hariri will deliver a “decisive” speech at the BIEL rally. “The most important highlights [of the speech] are to draw lessons from the past, consecrate the firm principles at all levels and draw up a road map for the next stage,” Houri said.

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Salim Sayyegh of the Kataeb (Phalange) Party said “very important speeches” will be delivered at the BIEL rally. “Some will present accounts about the past, but we will talk about the future and about hope and how 2011 and the 21st century will be,” he said. “We want to build a new [coexistence] charter for Lebanon because what is happening is a party of lies and buying time.” Sayyegh added that the next few days will tell if the Kataeb Party will participate in the new government or not.

Monday’s BIEL rally comes as Mikati, who is backed by the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, is struggling to form an all-embracing government that includes representatives from both the March 8 and March 14 camps.

A source close to Mikati said that the prime minister-designate was still holding unannounced contacts with March 8 and March 14 factions on forming the government. “Prime Minister [-designate] Mikati is now waiting for the March 14 position to be announced at the BIEL rally tomorrow. If they decide to go to the opposition, he will form a 24-member Cabinet made up of politicians and technocrats,” the source told The Daily Star.

Asked if the March 14 groups made any new proposal for their participation in the government during renewed talks with Mikati, the source said these groups have now added a new condition. “They are demanding veto power [in Cabinet], in addition to their call [on Mikati] to make a written commitment on a list of demands presented [to Mikati] last month by Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc,” he said.

The demands, among other things, call on Mikati to uphold the STL in the face of repeated calls by Hezbollah and its allies to sever all links with the tribunal. Hariri’s bloc also sought a public commitment from Mikati that he would not end Lebanon’s links with the STL by canceling the cooperation protocol with the tribunal, withdrawing Lebanese judges and halting funding for the STL.

Since Mikati’s appointment by President Michel Sleiman on Jan. 25 to form a new government, some lawmakers in Hariri’s bloc and in the March 14 coalition have claimed that the new government would be led by Hezbollah, a charge Mikati has denied.

Speaker Nabih Berri said his Amal Movement would help the new government overcome any obstacles preventing it from carrying out its social role or preventing ministries from providing public services.

Addressing a graduation of 1,500 Amal university students in Beirut Sunday, Berri said the signing of the cooperation agreement with the STL was unconstitutional because the then-President Emile Lahoud did not sign it and it was not referred to the Parliament. “As it has been known, the [U.N.] investigation was politically motivated and was based on false witnesses,” he said, adding, “We support the tribunal which leads to revealing the truth, rather than fabricating any truth or falsifying this truth.”