Is Hariri’s Brief Political Career Drawing to a Close?

The not-so-inevitable has happened with surprising speed. Hizbollah and its March 8 allies have walked out of the so-called unity government in Lebanon.

The ostensible trigger was Prime Minister Hariri’s failure to agree to an emergency meeting on the STL indictments. The real reason is that after months of pressure, Hariri is still refusing to distance himself from the tribunal investigating his father’s 2005 assassination.

Hariri was caught in an incredibly uncomfortable spot. Reject the STL and more of his far-right cabinet colleagues (who already feel isolated by Hariri cuddling up to Syria and Hizbollah) would have quit, and finally put the nail in the coffin of his five-year-old political project. Support the STL, and allies of an under-threat Hizbollah could’ve caused trouble on the streets.

This is the best-case scenario for Hariri. He gets to stay on as caretaker Prime Minister (and if the last dispute is anything to go by, he could remain in post for months, if not years), and his unhappy unity government colleagues are no longer at the table, shouting him down.

Dare I say that Hariri could hae even agreed with Hizbollah that their mutual needs would both be best met by this walkout?

For now, this looks like the end – in any meaningful way – of Hariri’s short-lived and slightly impotent political career. And Lebanon will be none the worse for that

by Syria News Wire

The Syria News Wire is written from Damascus and London. It was the fourth Syrian blog to appear on the internet – back in 2004. It is a Lonely Planet favourite, award nominated, Toot-ified blog, which gets about 15,000 hits a month. In 2008, Damascus became the Arab Capital of Culture. The year was packed full of events. Every month, a programme was published – but it didn’t hit the streets until half the month had passed. In Damascus, that doesn’t matter. We find out what’s happening by word of mouth. And the same goes for news, or plans for the city’s development. This site puts some of those whispers on to the net. News from the streets of Damascus, and beyond.

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