Hariri's Resignation Uncertain as Aoun Vows Respect for Dissociation Policy

Ambiguity is still shrouding Prime Minister Saad Hariri's final decision on the resignation he announced on November 4 from Riyadh, with some observers saying that he will confirm it and others suggesting that he will walk back from it.

Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted parties who have contacted the premier and his team in Paris as saying that Hariri is “insisting on staying in power.”

Other sources have however stressed that the prime minister is obliged to confirm his resignation and to “try to impose new conditions for the formation of a new government.”

President Michel Aoun is meanwhile “exerting all efforts possible to relaunch the political and constitutional process in the country, leading serious negotiations away from the media spotlight to create a climate that would keep Hariri in his post,” al-Akhbar reported.

It quoted informed sources as saying that Aoun has told France and Hariri that “everything that has happened until now indicates that the political settlement is still in place.”

He also told them that he can “guarantee Lebanon's commitment to the dissociation policy” and that he has the ability to “secure a stance from Hizbullah in this regard.”

“Communication between Aoun and Hizbullah has involved this point and the party's leadership has expressed its openness towards anything that would embrace Hariri and facilitate his staying in his post while also discarding the excuses that Saudi Arabia is using to undermine stability,” al-Akhbar said.

Hizbullah chief “Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech yesterday and his official rebuttal of any Hizbullah arming activities in Yemen or the Gulf countries serve this purpose,” the daily quoted the sources as saying.

Lebanon has been gripped in a political crisis since Hariri announced his surprise resignation earlier this month from Riyadh, lambasting Iran and Hizbullah for their policies in Lebanon and the region.

The shock announcement sparked worries that Lebanon would be caught up in the spiraling tensions between Riyadh and Tehran, which back opposing political and armed groups across the region.

After resigning, Hariri spent two more weeks in Saudi Arabia amid rumors he was under de facto house arrest there, before traveling to Paris on Saturday. There, he pledged he would be in Lebanon in time to mark its independence day on Wednesday.

Aoun is yet to accept Hariri's resignation, which was not submitted in a formal manner.