Amid a tense political scene and one day before the parliamentary consultations to name the next premier, President Emile Lahoud sent out a last call for the Lebanese to unite under one Cabinet and face international pressure. | The people don't want you to 'face' international pressure, they want you to 'respond' to it. |
The president's call was seconded by Hizbullah Secretary General Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who rejected on Tuesday a "neutral" Cabinet, describing it as "meaningless" in the country's current situation. At a rally in central Beirut attended by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, Nasrallah said the country needs a national consensus government, ready to manage the political and economic crisis.
But, amid the invitations, a determined opposition is still refusing to name the next premier or any ministers, saying it will only collaborate with the government if the latter adopts its tough demands. Opposition member and Aley MP Akram Chehayeb told The Daily Star Tuesday: "We refuse to join any government or to even participate in the vote of confidence session in Parliament" necessary to officially name the prime minister and his government. Around 45 out of 128 MPs will not participate in the parliamentary consultations. Chehayeb said that if the opposition's demands are not part of the next Cabinet's policy, no understanding will occur with the loyalists.