Hezbollah joins Lebanon government

Published on Saturday 7 November 2009 19:03

LEBANON's Syrian-backed factions yesterday finally agreed on a unity government proposed by their pro-Western rivals, ending a four-month deadlock in the deeply divided country.

The announcement by the opposition coalition, which is dominated by the militant Hezbollah group – backed by Syria and Iran – came after a meeting late on Friday night between the groups' leaders.

The agreement, which was formally given to premier-designate Saad Hariri yesterday, formally ended a political deadlock that has threatened to send the fragile nation spiralling back into violence.

Hariri has been trying to form a cabinet since June, when his Western-backed coalition narrowly defeated Hezbollah and their allies and retained a slim majority in the 128-member legislature. Many commentators described Hariri and his allies as "anti-Syrian".

Syria was a significant political player in neighbouring Lebanon for nearly 30 years, until the assassination of Saad Hariri's father, Rafiq, in 2005. The latest developments also come after Syria and Saudi Arabia, seen as patrons of the rival factions, improved relations that have been tense since Rafiq Hariri's car-bomb death.

Both sides have long accepted a complicated power sharing formula that gives Hariri's coalition 15 seats in the next government and the Hezbollah-led minority ten seats, with five other seats to be filled by President Michel Suleiman, who is seen as a neutral figure.

However, until yesterday, they had not been able to agree on what posts each group would take. Hariri's cabinet line-up appears to have given the opposition the seats they have been demanding for months, including the telecommunications ministry.

A Hezbollah statement said the opposition leaders agreed during the meeting "to go ahead with the formation of a national unity government according to what was agreed upon during negotiations".

It added that they "hope that this step will be for the good of Lebanon and its people".

During the months-long negotiations, one of the most contentious points was the demand by Hezbollah and its allies that Jebran Bassil stay on as telecommunications minister, a sensitive post for security reasons. Hariri ultimately relented, but only if the minister was not Bassil, but rather another member of his party.

Bassil will become minister of power and hydraulic resources in the future cabinet, said Hezbollah sources. Hezbollah led the fight against Israel in the short war of summer 2006.