RAMALLAH, Jan 14 (JMCC) - Following the collapse of the Lebanese coalition government after
Hezbollah members left parliament, President Saad Hariri returned from a diplomatic circuit to stalwart opposition group denying him a future in any new coalition.
The March 8 Alliance - an opposition coalition including Hezbollah - announced yesterday caretaker premeir
Hariri would not be allowed to resume his post as prime minister. The group mentioned possible candidates for the position like former premiers Najib Mikati and Omar Karami and former defense minister Abdul Rahim Mourad.
Back in Beirut after trips to Washington and Paris, Hariri said the resignations of the 11 ministers were a democratic right at the core of Lebanon's constitution. But he said the collective move breached the spirit of a 2008 agreement that led to the unity government.
Lebanon needs the efforts of all its people, but is first in need of the wisdom of its leadership and the awareness of decision makers to the fact that we all have no alternative to dialogue and that no one side can eliminate the other in Lebanon, Hariri said.
Hariri's government and Hezbollah had been at an impasse over the investigation by a UN-backed special tribunal of the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, the premier's father. It is widely expected the tribunal will indict members of the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department.
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