Lebanese government from July 2005

The Lebanese government of July 2005 was formed on July 19, 2005 by Fuad Siniora . All major political blocs were included, with the exception of the bloc led by the Free Patriotic Movement ( Tayyar Al Mustaqbal ) led by General Michel Aoun .

On November 11, 2006, the five ministers belonging to Hezbollah and its close associate Amal submitted their resignation. The move was made after talks about a government of national unity had also failed because Hezbollah demanded eight cabinet members, which would automatically have given it the opportunity to veto cabinet decisions and to overthrow the cabinet as a whole. Another pro-Syrian minister resigned on November 13, 2006.

On November 21, the Minister of Industry, Pierre Gemayel junior, was assassinated.

Members

Portfolio	minister	Political orientation [1]
Maronite Christians
Jihad Azour	Finances	Future movement ( pro-Hariri [2])
Charles Rizk	Judiciary	pro-Lahoud [3]
Nayla Moawad	Social	Qurnat Shahwan Collection [4]
Pierre Gemayel junior († November 21, 2006, assassination attempt)	Industry	Kata'ib [4]
Joseph Sarkis	tourism	Forces Libanaises [5]
Greek Orthodox Christians
Tarek Mitri	Culture	Future movement ( pro-hariri )
Yakoub Sarraf (resigned November 13, 2006)	environment	pro-Lahoud
Elias Murr	defense	pro-Lahoud
Elias Murr	Deputy Prime Minister	pro-Lahoud
Greek Catholic
Michel Pharaon	Minister of State	Future movement ( pro-hariri )
Take Tohmé	refugees	Progressive Socialist Party [6]
Armenian Orthodox Christians
Jean Oghassapian	Administrative reforms	Future movement ( pro-hariri )
Sami Haddad	economy and trade	Future movement ( pro-hariri )
Sunnis
Fouad Siniora	Prime Minister	Future movement ( pro-hariri )
Hassan Sabeh [9]	Interior	Future movement ( pro-hariri )
Ahmad Fatfat	Youth and sport	Future movement ( pro-hariri )
Khaled Kabbani	education	Future movement ( pro-hariri )
Mohammad Safadi	Transport and public buildings	Future movement ( pro-hariri )
Shiites
Fawzi Salloukh (resigned November 11, 2006)	External affairs	Independent ( Hezbollah- inclined)
Mohammed Fneisch (resignation November 11, 2006)	Energy and water	Hezbollah [7]
Trad Hamadé (resignation November 11, 2006)	job	Hezbollah
Mohammad Jawad Khalifé (resigned November 11, 2006)	health	Amal movement [8]
Talal Sahili (resigned November 11, 2006)	Agriculture	Amal movement
Druze
Marwan Hamadeh	telecommunications	Progressive Socialist Party
Ghazi Aridi	information	Progressive Socialist Party
Remarks: [1] Political orientation: The ministers are or are not formally members of parties and movements, but are generally linked to them in some way. [2] The Future Movement , led by Saad Hariri, is part of a larger alliance, the Rafiq Hariri Martyrs List , which also includes the Qurnat Shahwan Collection , the Progressive Socialist Party and the Forces Libanaises . [3] Supporters of President Émile Lahoud . [4] The Qurnat Shahwan Collection is an alliance of the Kata'ib led by former President Amine Gemayel , the National Liberal Party led by Dory Chamoun , and a number of other Christian-led parties. The Qurnat Shahwan Collection names Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir , the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch , as its leader. [5] Forces Libanaises , a movement led by Samir Geagea , who was incarcerated for nearly a decade before his release on July 26, 2005 . [6] Progressive Socialist Party - led by Walid Jumblat . [7] Hezbollah , fundamentalist Shiite party, led by Hassan Nasrallah . [8] Amal movement , led by the Speaker of the National Assembly , Nabih Berri . [9] Hassan Sabeh resigned after riots in Beirut on February 6, 2006 and was subsequently represented by Ahmad Fatfat , but returned to office on November 24, 2006.

Government crisis in November 2006

After negotiations on a veto right for Hezbollah failed, five Shiite ministers (two from Hezbollah, two from the Amal movement, and one closely related to Hezbollah) announced their resignation. The Greek Orthodox Environment Minister took the same step two days later. Prime Minister Siniora, however, did not accept the resignation of the ministers. Lebanese President Émile Lahoud described further cabinet meetings as "unconstitutional and useless" and said the government had lost its legitimacy. Former President Amine Gemayel said that a Cabinet decision on the draft bill on the formation of an international tribunal in connection with the attack on the convoy of Rafiq al-Hariri without the resigned ministers "would be valid and constitutional justice to one hundred percent," February 14, 2005 . The government of Prime Minister Siniora is able to act because it has a sufficient majority in parliament.

Various Lebanese politicians have interpreted the resignations as an attempt to torpedo the international tribunal. MP Wael Bou Faour criticized the move, noting that "we now know who supports Lebanese sovereignty and who does not and who wants to protect [Syria's President] Bashar al-Assad ." The head of the Maronites , Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir , described the behavior of Hezbollah ministers as "rejecting" international support for Lebanon.

On Monday, November 13th, 2006 the Lebanese cabinet nevertheless unanimously decided in favor of the UN tribunal with the ministers attending the meeting.

The cabinet thus approved the draft statutes of an international tribunal to condemn those accused of the assassination of the former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and other murders of anti-Syrian politicians and journalists. The March 14 Movement accused Hezbollah of trying to prevent the tribunal by withdrawing ministers. In an interview with Reuters on November 17, 2006, Samir Geagea , the leader of the Forces Libanaises , warned against attacks on cabinet members in order to overthrow the government.

Assassination attempt on Pierre Gemayel junior

On November 21, 2006, gunmen killed the Minister of Industry, Pierre Gemayel junior, in an attack. This means that seven cabinet members have failed. The strength of the cabinet now only just reached the quorum .

Interior Minister Hassan Sabeh , who resigned in February 2006 because of the cartoon dispute and the associated unrest in Beirut , who had meanwhile been represented by Minister for Sport and Youth Ahmad Fatfat , withdrew his resignation after the murder of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel junior. November 2006 returned to the cabinet. According to the constitution, the Lebanese government is automatically dissolved if a third of the ministers resigned or resigned for other reasons.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Washington Post : Hezbollah Quits Lebanese Cabinet , November 12, 2006 (print page A14)
2. ↑ The Daily Star : Crippled Cabinet will still discuss Hariri court , November 13, 2006 (fee required)
3. ↑ The Daily Star : Sfeir accuses opposition of rejecting international support , November 13th (fee required )
4. ↑ The Daily Star : Cabinet shrugs off crisis, approves draft on Hariri tribunal , November 14, 2006 (fee required)
5. ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung : None ( Memento from February 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), November 14, 2006
6. ↑ Gulf Times: Bids to kill ministers in Lebanon feared ( Memento of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), November 18, 2006
7. ↑ Independent (South Africa): Lebanese leader "predicts" deaths ( Memento of the original from June 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , November 17, 2006 
8. ^ The Daily Star : Siniora ignores opposition objection, schedules Cabinet meet for Saturday , November 25, 2006