Ministerial Committee Meets on Policy Statement, Salam Proposes 'Non-Contentious' Draft

The ministerial committee tasked with devising a government policy statement met on Wednesday afternoon at the Grand Serail amid reports that Prime Minister Tammam Salam will present it with a draft statement.

"The committee convened in the Grand Serail and the meeting was presided over by Salam,” the state-run National News Agency reported.

"The seven members of the committee were all present in the meeting,” the NNA noted.

The committee is composed of State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammed Fneish, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb, Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi, and Interior Minister Nuhad al-Mashnouq.

LBCI television revealed that Salam prepared a draft policy statement that he will distribute to the ministerial committee during the meeting.

Sources close to Salam told LBCI that there are priorities on which the ministerial statement will be based.

"These priorities include security matters, the issue of refugees and the presidential elections."

“A ministerial policy statement proposal was discussed with a positive attitude meeting,” LBCI quoted Health Minister Wael Abou Faour as saying.

Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5)a also said a positive atmosphere prevailed in the first meeting of the ministerial committee.

"The brief statement proposal does not include any controversial articles,” LBCI remarked.

Later in the evening, the same source noted that the army-people-resistance equation has not been tackled yet in the meeting.

However, Hizbullah sources told the the television channel that the party will not accept to abandon the army-people-resistance equation in the ministerial policy statement.

Telecom Minister Butros Harb announced from the Grand Serail that a decision has been made to speed up an agreement on a policy statement and to come up with one that “does not deceive the people.”

“There will be no issues of contention in the ministerial statement and we will agree to a consensual one,” Mashnouq told LBCI.

Meanwhile, ministerial sources told MTV that studying the draft requires three or four meetings before voting on it at the cabinet.

Earlier in the day, An Nahar daily reported that the ministerial committee will avoid discussions on controversial issues and instead focus on the principles of the Constitution and the resumption of the national dialogue to resolve the differences between the rival parties,.

An Nahar quoted al-Mashnouq as saying that the members of the committee would be able to agree on a blueprint acceptable by all political parties.

“We should be able to agree on a plan that backs the role of the state and stresses that only the state would be responsible for the Lebanese in political, military, economic and security issues,” he said.

As Safir newspaper also said that Salam will propose to the committee a “blueprint that satisfies everyone.”

It quoted several unidentified ministers as saying that the policy statement would focus on “the Lebanese government's commitment to all the principles that were consolidated by the Lebanese cabinets since the Taef Accord.”

Such wordings would avoid a controversy on the “people-army-resistance” equation which Hizbullah was holding onto before the formation of the cabinet.

They would also appease the March 14 alliance that was sticking to its call for the adoption of the Baabda Declaration as the basis of the policy statement.

Hizbullah's al-Manar TV confirmed that neither the “people-army-resistance” equation nor the Baabda Declaration would be mentioned in the blueprint, a sign that both the March 8 and March 14 camps have agreed to steer themselves clear of a dispute inside the committee.

The new government's main task will be the preparation for the presidential elections. It was formed on Saturday after a ten-month deadlock and has only a few months of authority before the polls to choose a new president by the time Michel Suleiman's term expires in May.