On Friday evening [March 22], Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced his government’s resignation. He resigned because most Cabinet members refused to allow the National Defense Law to be violated by extending the security officials’ term past their retirement date, as Mikati had wanted. But if one looks behind the scenes, the reasons for the resignation are more complicated, creating the possibility of a vacuum in the Cabinet and perhaps even in Parliament, and maybe even more. It would place the Land of the Cedars at a crossroads: Either a comprehensive settlement, or else!
As the saying goes: The third time’s a charm, which seems to apply perfectly to Mikati. He first threatened to resign in early 2012, over whether the Lebanese government should pay its share to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The UN Security Council established the tribunal to look into former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri’s assassination in 2005, and Lebanon was required to pay half of its costs. At the last minute, Mikati found a way to circumvent the will of the Cabinet majority, which was opposed to funding the tribunal. He succeeded in making Lebanon pay its share for the tribunal in contravention of government funding procedures.
