Either full March 14 participation in cabinet or none at all: Geagea

BEIRUT: The March 14 parties will either participate in the new government altogether or no one will, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Tuesday.

He also said Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikatis nomination to form a new government was undemocratic.

Participation in the government will either be with all the March 14 parties or no one will participate, Geagea told a news conference.

He said so far, there has been no serious offer or proposal that encouraged the March 14 coalition to participate in the government.

Geagea spoke a day after he and Kataeb (Phalange) Party leader Amin Gemayel met separately with Mikati to discuss the March 14 coalitions possible participation in the new government. He said the talks he and Gemayel held with Mikati were in agreement with all March 14 leaders.

Mikati, who is backed by the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, was designated by President Michel Sleiman on Jan. 25 to form a new government to replace caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariris toppled Cabinet.

Mikati was struggling to form a national unity government that includes some political rivals from the March 14 coalition. While Hariri has said he would not join a government headed by a March 8-backed candidate, the March 14 coalition has yet to decide on whether to participate in Mikatis government.

The coalition has urged Mikati to clarify his position on the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the issue of illegitimate arms before deciding on its participation in the government. Hariris Future parliamentary bloc has also called on Mikati to make a public commitment not to end Lebanons cooperation with the STL, which is probing the 2005 assassination of Hariris father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Billionaire Mikati, 55, has repeatedly said he wants all political parties to be represented in his government. But he has signaled he would form a mixed government of politicians and technocrats if Hariris parliamentary Future bloc and! its all ies in the March 14 coalition decided to stay out.

Geagea criticized Mikatis nomination to the prime ministers post as undemocratic. Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikatis nomination was not democratic in the real sense of the word. It came as a result of the silent and undeclared use of force, he said.

He was referring to Hezbollah which, along with its allies in the March 8 coalition, had backed Mikati against Hariri to form a new government following the collapse of Hariris Cabinet.

Hariris Cabinet was brought down on Jan. 12 with the resignations of ministers of Hezbollah and its allies in a long-simmering dispute over the STL, whose indictment is widely expected to implicate some Hezbollah members in Hariris assassination, raising fears of sectarian strife.

Hezbollah has repeatedly denied involvement in the assassination.

Geagea said that during his meeting with Mikati he voiced the March 14 parties fears of the new majority which, he said, now comprised Syria and Hezbollah, meaning a return to the era of the Syrian tutelage over Lebanon. He added that he had discussed with Mikati the STL and the issue of illegitimate arms.

I told him [Mikati] specifically that the tribunal has been approved by national unanimity and the arms [issue] has been discussed during the [national] dialogue sessions. The views were clear on finding a solution for it. But Hezbollah was evasive on giving a clear answer on each subject, Geagea said. The Daily Star