❊ Is Miqati Trying to Boil Hezbollah’s Frog?

It could be a coincidence, but this is the second time Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah publicly blasts the International Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) right after PM Miqati declares that the Lebanese government will cooperate with it.

To March 14 and other observers, the explanation is Simple. Mr. Miqati is being “checked” by Sayyed Nasrallah. Here’s how MP Ahmad Fatfat of the Future Movement puts it:

“The last word will be for Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah because he is the actual prime minister. Mikati is only to make the image of the cabinet [prettier].”

In other words, “Hezbollah’s cabinet” will never allow any substantial progress in the STL’s work, and salesman Miqati’s job is to contain the international community by issuing vague, mollifying statements.

But here’s an interesting thought: What if it’s the other way around? What if Mr. Mikati is actually planning to have the STL reach its final conclusion, and is waiting for Hezbollah to weaken? Why not in the meanwhile make statements that calm the party into a false sense of security?

What if he’s playing for the long haul? Slowly building up his power base and improving the material lives of the Lebanese, to a degree they’ll become incompatible with Hezbollah’s values and goals. Is it possible that he is planning to boil that frog one degree at a time?

It’s not that far fetched. Wasn’t Mr. Mikati the one who called Hezbollah a “tumor that has to be removed” ?

To many, the consensus is that PM Mikati is a “dead man walking”. But perhaps, just perhaps, he’s trying to become another Rafik Hariri..