Policy Statement Panel to Hold Last Meeting Monday, Resistance Clause Remains Point of Contention

The panel drafting the ministerial policy statement held its third meeting on Friday at the Grand Serail as the controversial “army-people-resistance equation” remained a point of contention among the committee members.

Several TV networks said the panel will hold its final meeting on Monday.

“Discussions over the policy statement have made major progress and today's meeting could be the final meeting should a settlement over the army-people-resistance equation be found,” OTV quoted sources close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam as saying earlier on Friday.

But al-Jadeed TV said the committee wrapped up its meeting without being able to reach a final agreement on the resistance clause.

Quoting sources close to the committee members, al-Jadeed said “the statement will contain a bare-minimum agreement on the addressed topics in a manner that would not negate the beliefs of any of the two camps.”

Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Telecom Minister Butros Harb said he would propose a formula that does not mention the army-people-resistance equation, noting that it would represent his own viewpoint, not that of the March 14 camp that he belongs to.

“I will suggest a formula that expresses my own point of view,” Harb said, adding that “nothing prevents the mention of the word 'resistance' but” the army-people-resistance equation is “unacceptable.”

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Harb said he intended to “demand the inclusion of the dissociation policy (towards the Syrian conflict) in the policy statement,” adding that “the Baabda Declaration was approved unanimously and nothing prevents incorporating it in the policy statement.”

Meanwhile, Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) quoted Hizbullah's representative, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammed Fneish, as saying that he was carrying a proposal to the committee meeting.

For his part, Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil said: "We have almost finished discussing all the topics and only the resistance clause remains pending."

On Thursday, the committee agreed on the need to find a solution to the Syrian refugee crisis in the country, as the ministers of the Hizbullah-led March 8 camp insisted on the so-called "army-people-resistance equation."

The committee held its first meeting on Wednesday under PM Salam after it was formed Tuesday during the cabinet's first session.

Salam has announced that the policy statement will be “consensual and concise and will focus on (the country's) priorities prior to the election of a new president.”