Funds Battle to Be Resolved through Ministry of Planning
President Michel Suleiman was reportedly headed toward a decision for creating a Ministry of Planning in an effort to settle the dispute over the 2009 state budget.
Meanwhile, sources close to Premier Fouad Saniora criticized a proposal by member of Speaker Nabih Berri”s Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc MP Ali Hassan Khalil seeking cancellation of decrees issued for the establishment of the Council for Reconstruction and Development, Council for the South, Funds for Displaced Lebanese and the Higher Relief Council.
"It”s like shooting your own leg," one source ridiculed.
The daily Al Akhbar on Monday said Suleiman is seeking to settle the budget crisis by adopting Berri”s suggestion of setting up a Ministry of Planning.
Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, however, quoted sources close to Saniora as saying that the elimination of councils is tantamount to a "sin."
A special session on state budget was postponed on Friday for 10 days when Lebanese leaders failed to agree over funding for the Council for the South.
News reports said Suleiman postponed the session after Berri requested more than double the amount of money he had earlier demanded.
The daily An Nahar had said that during Friday”s Cabinet session an envelope was distributed among the ministers that included two unsigned documents proposing the required amounts for the 2009 Council for the South budget totaling LL 150 billion.
Berri had earlier demanded LL 60 billion to be earmarked for the Council, an amount also rejected by Saniora
Meanwhile, Berri”s visitors said the Speaker was surprised at the "reported escalated position" that he requested LL150 billion for the Council.
They said the LL 150 billion amount was the total sum the Council needed, including paying off contractors” debts.