Hezbollah and allies dominate Lebanese cabinet

Jun 13, 2011, 15:51 GMT

Beirut - Lebanese Prime Minister Naqib Mikati announced Monday the formation of a 30-member cabinet, in which the militant Islamist movement Hezbollah and its allies have a majority.

In the new cabinet line-up, formed after five months of political vacuum, Hezbollah and its allies have 19 seats. The other 11 portfolios are divided between the parties of Mikati, President Michel Suleiman and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.

Key portfolios, including the ministries of justice, telecommunications and labour, went to the party of Hezbollah's key Christian ally Michel Aoun.

After announcing the new line-up of his cabinet, Mikati said that 'this government is a government for all Lebanese, no matter what party they support, be it the majority or the opposition.'

But shortly after the new cabinet was announced, Talal Arslan, a close ally of Hezbollah, rejected his appointment as state minister without a fixed portfolio.

'I will not take part in the new cabinet with such a portfolio,' Arslan said.

Member of parliament Imad al Hout, who represents the Islamic groupings close to former premier Saad Hariri warned, 'A one-sided cabinet will lead to division in the country.'

Hariri resigned earlier this year after Hezbollah and its allies withdrew eleven of thirty cabinet members over a row regarding the UN's Lebanon tribunal.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was set up to prosecute those allegedly responsible for the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, Saad Hariri's father.

The tribunal is expected to indict Hezbollah members for the assassination. The movement has denied any involvement.

The new cabinet must now gain the confidence of at least half of Lebanon's 128-member Parliament, where the Hezbollah-led opposition holds a slight majority.

In March, the Western-backed Hariri announced that he and his allies would 'boycott the next Hezbollah government.'

Most European countries and the United States have warned that a Hezbollah-controlled government would affect Lebanon's ties with the West.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was the first Arab leader to call Suleiman to congratulate him on the new cabinet. Syria and Iran are Hezbollah's main backers in Lebanon.

According to Lebanon's power-sharing system, the country's prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim, the president a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim.