History to Repeat Itself in Christian Stances, Pharaon Might Join Ministers who Have Expressed Reservations
In Lebanese politics, history seems to be repeating itself. The cabinet session on the policy statement next week would most probably be similar to the August 5, 2008 meeting when four Christian ministers expressed reservations on the document.
During Wednesday”s government session, Phalange and Lebanese Forces ministers as well as Minister Boutros Harb are expected to express reservations on the resistance clause which states the right of "Lebanon, its government, its people, its army and its resistance" to liberate all Lebanese territory.
In 2008, four Christian cabinet ministers -Nassib Lahoud, Elie Marouni, Ibrahim Najjar and Antoine Karam- registered reservations over the clause because it did not spell out the need for defensive activities to be practiced "under the state wing."
By now, the stances of the four Christian March 14 ministers are clear. However, eyes are now turned to Minister Michel Pharaon who had also remarks on the policy statement document. It is not yet clear whether Pharaon will express reservations during the cabinet session.
However, the minister told An Nahar daily that he is in continuous contact with his March 14 allies and will hold consultative meetings with them to coordinate their stance prior to the cabinet meeting.
The newspaper said Pharaon will hold a meeting with several Christian March 14 ministers at noon Monday.
"We have our full trust in the prime minister and we trust the government … However, it”s a pity that arguments took place on things that should have been clearer in the policy statement," Pharaon said in response to a question, refusing to reveal whether he would reject or express reservations on the ministerial statement.
The Phalange representative in the government Minister Salim al-Sayegh told Future News on Sunday that the government is unified on all clauses except for clause number 6 which deals with the resistance and arms.
Harb, in his turn, told An Nahar that he would have the same stance that he expressed during the meetings of the committee tasked with drafting the policy statement.
He reiterated that his criticism of the resistance clause is mainly due to describing Hizbullah as an entity separate from the state and the Lebanese people.
Minister Ghazi Aridi, however, told An Nahar that he expected a calm session on Wednesday. "We have to go out of the stage of tension and enter the stage of common work in the coalition government," he said.
The newspaper also quoted Hizbullah leadership sources as saying that "the difficult stage has passed … and the statement would be adopted by the majority of the ministers."
As for Minister Hassan Mneimneh, he told al-Mustaqbal newspaper that "discussions on the policy statement were the best that could have been achieved."
An Nahar said the parliamentary session for a vote of confidence will most probably be set for Dec. 7 or 8.