Fouad Siniora - Events Leading To The Doha Agreement

Events Leading To The Doha Agreement

On 13 November 2006, Shiite ministers backed by Hezbollah and Amal resigned from Siniora's cabinet. This took place on the eve in which the Special Tribunal for Lebanon trying the murderers of Rafik Hariri was to be discussed in a cabinet meeting. Although the resigned ministers were only 6, nearly 40% of the Lebanese MPs are in the opposition. Unlike Western democracies, no party in Lebanon has ever had a monopoly on power and decision-making, therefore the Government never took a decision unless it was agreed upon with the opposition.

The Lebanese opposition claimed that this resignation meant that the Siniora Government was not a legitimate one because it did not represent all religious groups in Lebanon, namely the Shiite Lebanese. According to the constitution, the government is legal as long as it has two-thirds of the ministers, and so the majority believed the Siniora government was still a totally legal cabinet. The opposition demanded an increase in opposition representation in the cabinet, sufficient to hold veto power over decision making, as their requirement for returning. The majority saw this as a Syrian-orchestrated move to block the establishment of the Hariri tribunal.

On 1 December 2006, the parliamentary minority, primarily the pro-Syrian parties of Amal, Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement of Michael Aoun launched a campaign of street demonstrations with the goal of getting veto power in the government. The country was further put into paralysis when the opposition refused to attend the parliament and vote for a new president, after Emile Lahoud's Presidential term expired. This meant the Fuad Siniora was an acting president until the new president was voted in.

The demonstrations continued for 17 months until 7 May 2008 (which was a reply to 5 May 2008). The day is remembered by many Lebanese as the darkest day they had witnessed since the end of the Lebanese Civil War. Hizbollah, Amal, Syrian Social Nationalist Party, amongst others launched an armed strike against Beirut. The Rafik Hariri Intl. Airport, the Government's Grand Serail, and houses of Majority leaders, Saad Hariri and Walid Jumblatt, were all put under siege. Mount Lebanon was also attacked in the operation. Vengeance attacks broke out in other areas of Lebanon. It is thought that about 200 people died in the few days of fighting. The Beirut siege ended shortly after the Lebanese leaders met in Doha and agreed to what is referred to as the Doha Agreement. The agreement promised the minority veto power, led to the election of President Michel Suleiman, and a promise to the majority the weapons will no longer be used for internal political gains.