Why Didn’t the International Community Avert Mikati’s Resignation?

Tareq Tarshishi

Al-Joumhouria newspaper, 22-03-2013

The surprising resignation of Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, raised a tower of questions about its dimensions and backdrops, despite the announced reasons that led to it. Among the sparked doubts, what happened that the international community is indeed taking this resignation after the world's ambassadors and envoys had sprung to prevent it and warned of Lebanon plummeting into vacuum, right following the assassination of Information Branch Chief, General Wissam Hassan, few months ago?

Moreover, what happened between the fresh meetings in Rome of House Speaker Nabih Berri, Premier Mikati, and Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Beshara Boutros Rahi, and the Cabinet session which Mikati left fuming, and then stepping down? Is it right that what happened in Rome was an agreement on the government's resignation to please Future Movement and its allies in exchange for accepting the hybrid voting system put forth by Berri?
Is there a regional agreement that is being calmly concocted between parties that disputed on the eve of the collapse of Saad Hariri's government in January 2011, and whose row jolted Lebanon's interior and neighborhood, especially Syria, where many believe that the Gulf and Turkish have dashed to support the opposition against the backdrop of the ousting of Saad Hariri's government in Lebanon and to give up on helping Ayad Allawi assume premiership in Iraq and clear the way for Nouri Maliki?

Moreover, another analysis links Mikati's resignation to the nearing legislative polls and his wish to reap big popularity in his city, Tripoli, which he said he would sacrifice his soul for in his resignation address. In fact, Mikati's defending the Internal Security Forces Chief, Major General Ashraf Rifi, himself a son of Tripoli, and his incessant jabs against Hizbullah-Aoun understanding, do actually allow him to run for elections in the capital of the north alongside Rifi and Minister Mohammad Safadi, with the collaboration of former Prime Minister Omar Karami, and to strip the "blue label" of Tripoli, which locals are starting to complain about the current bloodshed.

Some politicians do not rule out that the resignation complies with the said analysis, meaning that the decision may have been encouraged by many local and regional parties who do not want the Sunni "voice" to remain limited to one single leadership. As more analyses will come to light in the days to come, one thing is certain: the real explication of the resignation depends on what's next.

Will Lebanon see Mikati returning to premiership again? Or will it see Saad Hariri cauterizing a wound that was rubbed in salt over two years ago? Or will the next Prime Minister be impartial and form a neutral government that will oversee the polls which many believe the chances of holding any soon are at best slim?
At any rate, Mikati, who knew well how to reach power despite difficulties, is able to exit it stronger than before, albeit the looming challenges and obstacles.
Besides, some politicians see that some pillars of the current majority, namely Hizbullah and the Change and Reform bloc, must be more careful while addressing the post-resignation stage, considering that this majority is a sensitive configuration and that any tampering with it would take a toll on its components as well as on the entire country.