As-Safir

After the fall of the government, will Lebanon become a scene of clashes between regional actors?

Najib Mikati's government has collapsed, politically.

Perhaps this hypothetical fall is the reasonable conclusion if we evaluate developments in the last few hours which lead us to predict that the political structure, created on the ruins of Saad Hariri's government, has taken a toll for the worse, if it hasn't already worsened.

And perhaps Nov. 30 – the date when the Cabinet is officially scheduled to discuss the issue of funding the tribunal – will be the finish line for a political era which has lasted 11 months. It consequently opens the door to an unknown scene, without any local or regional backing that would guarantee the stability of the country.

It seems that this scene has been completed with Mikati's remarks that he would resign if the Cabinet fails to fund the tribunal, while his allies in the government, Hezbollah, reject the funding. Meanwhile the head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun has decided to attack Mikati and boycott the Cabinet session.

An-Nahar

March 8: Mikati’s government nears its end

Has the countdown begun for the end of Najib Mikati’s government? The question was posed yesterday following the cancellation of an extraordinary Cabinet session in Baabda Palace and Mikati’s remarks that he would resign if the Cabinet fails to agree to pay Lebanon’s share of its Special Tribunal on Nov. 30, which were seen as a warning siren by Hezbollah that the end of his [Mikati’s] government has approached the end.

On another note, the popular festival that Future Movement is preparing tomorrow in Tripoli is a startup point for March 14 and at its forefront is Saad Hariri who was ousted from the balance of power by Iran and Syria and who is now back in the balance of popular revolutions.

Sources said that the head of the Change and Reform bloc, MP Michel Aoun, decided to take the initiative to send a message saying that the government’s fate does not depend on the prime minister’s resignation, following an LBC interview with Mikati. Also, Hezbollah ministers were the only ones who knew of Aoun’s move.

Meanwhile March 8 sources told An Nahar that Mikati is living his last days and we are approaching the stage of difficult decisions to make if the new majority nominates someone from March 14 forces.

Al-Akhbar

Escalation without mediators; the last days of the Mikati government

Prime Minister Najib Mikati is threatening to resign. Ministers from the Change and Reform bloc are boycotting the Council of Ministers. The Free Patriotic Movement is looking to have ministers resign in anticipation of the resignation of Mikati. Efforts to resolve the STL funding crisis have been fruitless. This all means the government is on its last breath.

Ongoing political consultations throughout the day continued into the night with no result – only a government that will fall on Wednesday, unless there is a solution. Hezbollah, Amal and their allies want to go to the Council of Ministers and firmly refuse funding for the court, and they also reject the idea of Michel Aoun resigning.

The Free Patriotic Movement has not yet decided what do to. There appears to be internal debate. They would prefer to say they resigned because the government did not achieve their goals of reform, not because the government refused to finance the court.

These events led Jibran Bassil to an emergency meeting with his bloc to discuss the idea of boycotting the meeting of the Council of Ministers as well as to discuss the threat of Mikati resigning.

As for the festival in Tripoli planned for Sunday, Mikati did not want to appear to be in the position of being the political focus of the event.

Al-Liwaa

Who is playing with fire and inflaming the Syrian crisis? Aoun gambling and fracturing the government

Overnight, things were turned upside down in Lebanon, with the Syrian crisis and the deterioration of the government.

According to diplomatic sources, the move of Michel Aoun in forming a rivalry with Prime Minister Najib Mikati is a calculated step in undermining the government from the inside, and a removal of the political umbrella that gave stability in spite of sharp political divisions.

Meanwhile, security is tight throughout Lebanon and on the Syrian border for the Tripoli Festival tomorrow, as different parties try to re-adjust the power equation.

Mikati, who will travel to the Vatican today, has been relatively quiet.