Marada Movement Seeking to End Cabinet Impasse

Culture Minister Rony Araiji said on Wednesday that the Marada movement will facilitate the work of the cabinet to end a row over the mechanism regulating the government’s work during the ongoing presidential vacuum.

“Our stance is not so different from that of (Prime Minister Tammam) Salam,” Araiji said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

The minister, who is loyal to Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh, voiced consensus over Salam's endeavors to carry out the work of the cabinet and approve decrees that all parties agree on.

However, Araiji pointed out that the controversy remains over the number of ministers that should sign decrees.

“We can reach an agreement over the matter if there is an intention to facilitate and not obstruct,” the minister added.

A sharp row among the political arch-foes rose in the cabinet over the matter.

The cabinet assumes the executive tasks of the president as stated by the constitution until a new head of state is elected.

Araiji said that “the majority of ministers should ink all decrees approved by the cabinet.”

“It is necessary for political parties to resolve this dispute,” he remarked.

The last two cabinet sessions failed to resolve the dispute among the rival parties.

The presidential vacuum raised fears that it would affect Lebanon's power-sharing agreement under which the president should be a Maronite, the premier a Sunni and the speaker a Shiite.

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