Report Launching by Admin Admin: Mikati sets date for annual STL payment

By Hasan Lakkis
BEIRUT: Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Wednesday he had set a date with officials from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to pay the country’s annual financial contribution to the court.
In a lengthy interview with The Daily Star, Mikati said he was in continuous contact with the STL’s registrar but refused to reveal the agreed date.
Mikati added: “It is normal for a person like me, who paid funds [to the STL] twice and who strongly believes in the tribunal, to fulfill his obligations in this regard.”
Under his government, Lebanon paid its 49 percent annual contribution to the STL budget in 2011 and 2012.
“There is no magical way out and we are a state. In line with rules, I sent caretaker Finance Minister [Mohammad Safadi] a letter regarding this matter and he responded back saying he was ready [to make the payment] if I approve,” Mikati said. “I will approve in the appropriate time.”
Mikati also said he was standing firm on his stance not to convene a Cabinet session to approve the decrees needed to award tenders for offshore oil and gas exploration, as rival political parties could not agree on whether such a meeting would be legitimate.
He said that according to the Shura Council, a caretaker Cabinet could not convene to endorse the two decrees to designate Lebanon’s 10 offshore blocks for oil exploration and determine a model for revenue sharing.
Regardless, Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement, Hezbollah and Amal have called on Mikati to chair a Cabinet session to address the issue.
“This [the Shura Council’s] is a clear legal opinion. But I am ready to overcome this legal opinion made by the Shura Council [and chair the session] if there is agreement over the matter by all Lebanese groups,” Mikati said.
“In my opinion, such an agreement overshadows every legal opinion. But if disagreement between the Lebanese continues, then I cannot deviate from this legal opinion made by the State Shura Council,” Mikati explained.
The Future Movement of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said a caretaker government could not constitutionally decide on “important strategic matters” such as oil and gas exploration. It added that it did not trust Mikati’s caretaker government to handle the matter either.
Berri and the FPM are also at odds over the number of blocks that should be approved for drilling. The speaker has called for all of Lebanon’s 10 blocks to be auctioned off in one round.
But the Petroleum Administration has named only five blocks, a move supported by caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, who argued that approving all the blocks for drilling in one batch would not be transparent.
Other parties complain that political bickering over the issue is delaying the economic benefits of exploiting Lebanon’s offshore resources.
“If we were late for two, three, or four months, this delay would not harm public interest as much as a [Cabinet] meeting that fails to reach an agreement,” Mikati said.
The caretaker prime minister also said that if a new president was not elected next spring, the possibility of his caretaker government assuming the powers of President Michel Sleiman was being discussed.
“Let’s wait and see, but we call for forming a Cabinet as soon as possible,” Mikati said.
Sleiman’s term expires on May 25 while the constitutional period for electing his successor starts two months earlier. In light of the failure of rival factions to agree on a Cabinet makeup for six months, there are fears reaching consensus on a successor to Sleiman will be equally as protracted.
Mikati stressed that a new president should be elected on time, saying this was a basic requirement under a democratic system.“I prefer that elections are held. But if holding elections is impossible, then I am against a vacuum in this post, which is a symbol of the Lebanese people’s unity.”
On the subject of Syria, Mikati said he supported Lebanon’s participation in the Russia-U.S.-led Geneva II conference to come up with a solution to the war.
“When we receive the invitation, the president and I will look into the invitees and the situation ... I support attending [the conference]. But the government has yet to make a decision regarding this issue,” Mikati said.
Mikati said while Lebanon had adopted the disassociation policy toward events in Syria, the country was feeling the repercussions of the war there, with over a million Syrian refugees now in Lebanon.
“Any international conference will maybe address Syria’s future, and any future developments in Syria will have an effect on Lebanon. Thus, Lebanon should not be outside this umbrella and framework,” Mikati said.
He dismissed accusations made by some March 14 officials that caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour represented the Syrian regime and not Lebanon.
“Once we decide to attend [Geneva II], we will decide who will represent us and it is normal that Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister be present,” Mikati said. “He represents the opinion of the Lebanese state and not any other group.”

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31/10/2013
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