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| Lebanese Cabinet Fails Anew to Agree on Work Mechanism but 'Not Facing Collapse' | |
| 2014-06-04 | |
"The situations outside the cabinet will not lead to a political settlement anytime soon but this has not reached the extent of forcing the government's collapse," MTV quoted an unnamed minister as saying, in comments related to the current negotiations between the Change and Reform bloc and the al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... movement. "On the face of things, they appear as constitutional viewpoints, but in reality the reason is political," another minister said. According to MTV, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil of the Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... suggested that the ministers must also have a say along with the premier in the issue of calling the cabinet to convene and in preparing the agendas of sessions, "which brings things back to square one." As for the decrees, "the March 8 forces ... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ... said they must be signed by the 24 ministers while the March 14 forces made several proposals, including the signatures of two thirds" of the ministers, MTV said. Briefing news hounds after the cabinet session, Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said "the cabinet will address issues unanimously and in a spirit of collective responsibility that was consolidated during the ministers' interventions." "The cabinet will perform its duties according to the Constitution's stipulations and in a consensual way, out of its appreciation of the current political circumstances and to speed up the election of a new president," Jreij added. On Monday, Prime Minister Tammam Salam stressed that the Constitution is "clear" and "indisputable" regarding the powers of the government during a presidential vacuum, noting that "the PM is the one who asks cabinet to convene and prepares the session agenda." The cabinet had convened Friday for the first time after the end of ex-president Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... 's term. The parliament has failed to elect a successor to Suleiman -- whose six-year term ended on May 25 -- despite having held five electoral sessions for that purpose. | |
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