Interestingly enough, both Ministers Charles Rizk and Ya'coub Sarraf are closely affiliated with President Lahoud, to be more exact, were chosen to take part in the Cabinet as his representatives, yet Sarraf decided to turn in his resignation on the eve of voting to authorize the Hariri tribunal, while Rizk stayed behind to vote for that landmark legislation.
Ya'coub Sarraf, as the former Beirut Governor when PM Hariri was assassinated, has a lot to lose from enacting the tribunal. His name many times was brought up when discussing construction/maintenance permits that he authorized before and around the time Hariri was assassinated back in February 2004.
The question is why didn't Rizk resign as well? Him staying behind did in effect provide a rather more legitimate face to the currently-paralyzed Cabinet. Perhaps his position as the Justice Minister renders it hypocritical to opt out when such an important legislation is being put on the table for ratification.
Another puzzling move was how Berri approved the resignations of his Ministers, yet still considered the process of voting for the tribunal with six Ministers missing on the table as constitutional and legitimate (as opposed to Lahoud and Aoun touting the government as defunct). I wonder how much more Berri can squeeze out of taking a clear position; he's been trying to be on everyone's side, but it's proving to be a haggard game, almost like a deja-vu and it gets boring.
At any rate, it only seems like it's the beginning of some end. Nothing bodes well. If PM Seniora was able to approve the Hariri tribunal, then Hizbullah/Amal/FPM still have the Parliament to bring about further pressure on the current system.
We'll wait and see.
"Nobody knows how many rebellions, besides political rebellions, ferment in the masses of life which people earth."
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3 comments:
The government is still totally legit, all the decisions are constitutional.
The government falls only after one of those scenarios takes place:
1-the PM resigns or dies
2-The Parliament makes a vote of no confidence
3- 1/3 +1 of the cabinet resign (which is not the case here since only 1/4 resigned)
I agree - this is only the end of the current government, if anything at all - which is perfectly standard operating procedure for parliamentary democratic republics. Lebanon will not "topple" or "implode" as it has been stated so often in the mediocre media.
On an unrelated note,
Like moths to a flame, these Pharisaic Phalanx-niks can't help but betray their plans by occident!
Desperation has put the backwards neo-Zealot outpost in an ideological pickle - sure it takes power, but does it do so NOT at the expense of the very religion it claims to protect?
Check out my post for the predictable truth we all saw coming - Sinister Semitic Shlock-artists and the Slime they Sell!
Doha,
it is obvious that minister Rizk has been trying, for a while now, to distance himself from the president of the republic and is actually closer to the March 14 camp (Same holds for Murr especially after the assassination attempt). As for Berri your analysis is completely correct although his latest statements in Iran show he will be siding strongly with HA. What is to be expected though is that the closer the international court gets, the more tense the situation will be. It is obviously bothering a lot of people.
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