Free Patriotic MovementDespite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
leader MP Michel Aoun
...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
stressed Saturday that every Lebanese MP who votes in favor of Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri during consultations with President Michel Suleiman on appointing a new prime minister "will be voting for corruption and foreign domination of the country."
Suleiman will hold binding consultations with the country's parliamentary blocs on appointing a new premier on Monday and Tuesday.
In an interview on his party's mouthpiece OTV, Aoun said that his Change and Reform parliamentary bloc was mulling "more than one name."
"We will discuss them with our allies," Aoun added, noting that "Hariri is not among these names."
Asked about the latest stance of Leb's Grand Sunni Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani in support of Hariri, Aoun said: "Let Mufti Qabbani collect around $63 billion so we can pay our accumulating debts."
"I don't mind nominating Hariri if foreign countries pay Leb's debts worth $63 billion," Aoun added.
He stressed that if the controversial issue of the so-called "false witnesses" was not addressed, "it will be very difficult for anyone from the parliamentary majority to assume power."
On Tuesday, Aoun had announced that Syrian-Saudi efforts had failed to contain a political crisis over a U.N. probe into the murder of ex-premier Rafik Hariri.
"The Saudi-Syrian initiative has ended with no results. Prime Minister Saad Hariri has not responded to these efforts and we have now reached an impasse," Aoun told a news conference.
"We were informed (of this failure) by our allies in Hizbullah and by all parties who are in contact with the main actors in this initiative, namely Syrian President Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad
... hereditary dictator of Syria ...
and King of the Arabians Abdullah."
On Wednesday, the government led by Saad Hariri collapsed when Aoun's FPM, Hizbullah and their allies resigned over the U.N. probe.
"People are fed up of hearing about the Syrian-Saudi initiative, and we want to raise issues in Cabinet that are of concern to people. Hariri went abroad with all his slogans and decisions must be made regarding the pressing issues," Aoun told his interviewer on Saturday.
"Through his trips to the U.S., Europe and the Arab countries, the premier has stripped state institutions of their ability to take decisions; the problem is Lebanese and must solve it together," Aoun added.
About the timing of the resignation from government that coincided with talks between Hariri and U.S. President Barack
B.O.Obama in Washington, Aoun said "Hariri must realize that he's not the only one in charge of Leb's foreign policy.
"That's why we had timed the resignation to coincide with the moment he had entered the White House, not as a message to the White House, but to make Hariri realize that the decision is here," Aoun added.
"Why doesn't Hariri take the foreign minister with him on his foreign visits? Hariri had spent 200 out of 365 days abroad."
Aoun told his interviewer that the Hizbullah-led camp, until this moment, does not have street action on its agenda "in case the crisis protracted."
"At least this is what I believe," Aoun noted.
Asked about possible sanctions on the country by the international community if Leb halted its cooperation with the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Leb, Aoun said: "It doesn't matter. We can survive, Iran is surviving and so is Syria.
"If the international community wants to confront us, let it confront us, and anyway the current (parliamentary) majority will be the loser if international sanctions were imposed on us."
"Why do they want to ruin the country with flawed justice?" Aoun wondered.
"Should the Security Council show hostility towards us, the country might be ruined," he added.