Four ministers voice reservations over one clause
Lebanon”s Cabinet on Monday "unanimously" approved its draft policy statement after nearly three weeks of extensive debates. "The Cabinet on Monday approved unanimously the draft policy statement and referred it to Parliament," Information Minister Tarek Mitri told reporters at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Monday.
After an almost five-hour session, Mitri said that a number of ministers expressed reservations on the draft statement, namely on the clause related to Hizbullah”s resistance. The ministers who voiced their reservations include Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar, Tourism Minister Elie Marouni, Environment Minister Antoine Karam, and Minister of State Nassib Lahoud.
The four Christian ministers, all members of the anti-Syrian March 14 coalition, wanted to add the phrase "under the guardianship of the state" to paragraph 24 of the statement.
Paragraph 24 recognizes "the right of Lebanon”s people, army, and resistance to liberate the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, Kafar Shuba Hills, and the Lebanese section of Ghajar village, and defend the country using all legal and possible means."
Mitri quoted President Michel Sleiman, who headed the session, as saying that the draft policy statement stressed the role and authority of the Lebanese state, adding that the resistance should contribute to bolstering the state”s authority.
Well-informed sources told The Daily Star that all the reservations were expected to be discussed during upcoming national dialogue sessions chaired by Sleiman.
The sources added that Economy Minister Mohammad Safadi complained that the statement did not touch upon the security situation in Tripoli and the payment of compensation for almost 21,000 families who were forced to flee their homes as a result of recent clashes there.
Mitri also said Sleiman has informed the cabinet that he will be visiting Syria "soon."
"This was an occasion for the cabinet to review what has been discussed concerning Lebanese-Syrian ties," Mitri added.
Meanwhile, a source close to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told The Daily Star on Monday that Parliament was likely to convene on Friday to ratify the draft ministerial statement.
"The Parliament secretariat general will receive the draft on Tuesday and distribute it to the 127 lawmakers after which they would be given 48 hours to read and study the draft before discussing it," the source said.
Commenting on some ministers” reservations on the draft statement, the source said that such reservations had absolutely no legal effect on the way the statement would be dealt with by Parliament.
"Parliament is not concerned with such reservations … it deals with the statement the way it is," the source said.