Berri Welcomes Resumption of Cabinet Work, Says Time to Hold Legislative Sessions
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربيةSpeaker Nabih Berri praised the resumption of cabinet sessions in the wake of the ongoing dispute over the government decision-making mechanism, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Saturday.
He told the daily: “It is time to resume legislative sessions.”
“I will call parliament to hold a legislative session after the start of its regular round this month,” he explained.
On the government mechanism, he said: “As part of the AMAL Movement, we have and still support the implementation of the constitution, but we are also keen on avoiding obstructing cabinet work.”
“We will therefore wait and see how cabinet will function,” Berri added.
“Should its work improve, then we will be the first to praise it, but should the situation regress, then we will hold on to our initial stance” and condemn those obstructing it, stated the speaker.
Cabinet resumed its sessions on Thursday in spite of an ongoing dispute over its mechanism in light of the ongoing vacuum in the presidency.
The differences between the ministers on the amendment of the mechanism prompted Prime Minister Tammam Salam to suspend sessions in the past two weeks until the cabinet members reach an agreement on the formula, which he wants it to be based on article 65 of the constitution.
The article's clause five says: “The legal quorum for a council meeting shall be a two-thirds majority of its members. It shall make its decisions by consensus. If that is not possible, it makes its decisions by vote of the majority of attending members. Basic issues shall require the approval of two thirds of the members of the government named in the decree of its formation.”
The current mechanism, which was adopted after the cabinet assumed the responsibilities of the president in accordance with the constitution, states that ministers should give unanimous support to the government's decisions.
But it proved to be troublesome after some ministers resorted to veto power.
Berri had previously announced that he rejects the current mechanism and prefers the adoption of article 65 in taking decisions.
M.T.