BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s entry into Lebanon’s first government since Syrian forces withdrew complicates UN demands for the entrenched Shia guerrilla group, branded a terrorist group by Washington, to disarm. Ending weeks of wrangling over key posts, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Tuesday announced a 24-member cabinet dominated by an anti-Syria coalition which swept last month’s elections. It is the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war that Lebanon has had a government not closely aligned with Damascus.
It is also the first time a Beirut government contains a member of Hezbollah, respected by many Lebanese for its struggle against an Israeli occupation of the south that ended in 2000.
Hezbollah was offered the energy and water ministry after winning 14 seats in the 128-member Parliament.
The foreign ministry, which will handle UN Security Council Resolution 1559 that calls for the group’s disarmament, went to Fawzi Salloukh, a diplomat whose appointment was proposed by Hezbollah as part of a compromise to end a deadlock.
“Hezbollah is going to put the brakes on anything the cabinet does that goes against its interests,” said Sami Baroudi, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut.
“Hezbollah wants to make the decisions and decide when, if the time ever comes, to surrender its weapons,” Baroudi said.
“Disarming Hezbollah is going to be a headache and their refusal will affect reconstruction and international aid,” said Michael Young, an editor for the Daily Star, adding Hezbollah was “using the state as a sandbag against disarmament”.
Shortly after the announcement, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Washington would have no dealings with Hezbollah’s Mohammed Fneish, the energy and water minister.
The new cabinet, which has 15 members loyal to parliament’s majority coalition leader Saad al-Hariri and five supporters of a pro-Syria Shia bloc that includes Hezbollah, also faces the difficult task of pushing reform and tackling a huge $36 billion public debt.
But whether it will be able to pilot sensitive measures through Lebanon’s precarious political system and sectarian loyalties remains an open question, analysts said.
SHADOW OF DAMASCUS: Reflecting Lebanon’s diversity, the cabinet has Sunni, Shia and Druze Muslims, Christian Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Protestants and Armenians.
“This cabinet is not a team. It is an assortment of political figures with no ideological affinity other than the fact that most of them come from the opposition,” Baroudi said.
“Everybody in Lebanon agrees on the need for reform but when it comes to the details nobody wants to sacrifice. Lebanon likes to procrastinate on reform.”
Another pressing issue for the new cabinet will be reshaping its ties with Syria, the long-time power-broker in Lebanon.
Following the February 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, father of Saad al-Hariri, Syria ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon under intense Lebanese and international pressure.
Relations between Beirut and Damascus have become increasingly strained, and Siniora has said he plans to visit Damascus once the government is sworn in.
In what foes of Damascus see as an attempt to strangle the Lebanese economy, Sryria has increased inspections on commercial traffic coming from Lebanon, leaving hundreds of trucks stranded at the border and inflicting big losses on farmers.
“Redefining Lebanon’s ties with Syria is not going to be an easy process,” said Nizar Hamzeh, a political analyst.
“This government has inherited two major fires: UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and the issue of Syria. It will need a lot of energy to put out those two fires.”
The new government also needs to establish security, now that Syrian troops are gone. Parliament’s decision to pardon a Christian former warlord sparked fighting between Christian and Muslim gunmen along Beirut’s old civil war frontline on Monday.—Reuters
