Parliamentary Meeting Tests Ability to Resolve Spending Dispute as Berri Chides al-Mustaqbal

A meeting chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri of parliament’s bureau and heads and rapporteurs of parliamentary committees on Monday will test his ability to resolve the dispute between the March 8 and 14 forces on extra-budgetary spending.

A parliamentary source told al-Liwaa daily that discussions will focus on the agenda of the March 5 parliamentary session and the possibility to launch the work of a joint legislative-ministerial committee to resolve the controversial spending.

The dispute erupted on Thursday when the March 14 opposition and mainly al-Mustaqbal bloc MPs stormed out of parliament to protest the proposal of a bill that would legalize the $5.9 billion spending made by Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet in 2011.

The lawmakers are conditioning the approval of the bill to a comprehensive settlement to the current spending and the $11 billion spent by the previous governments of ex-PMs Fouad Saniora and Saad Hariri between 2006 and 2009.

Lebanon has been without a state budget since 2005.

Sources close to Miqati stressed to several Beirut dailies that the prime minister supports Berri’s initiative in finding the appropriate solution to the spending.

They expected the proposed committee to deal “calmly” with the issue “because all sides are wishing to reach a solution.”

The sources said Miqati also expects the bickering parties to reach a “happy ending” and put an end to accusations about violations in the past stage.

The March 8 forces, mainly the Change and Reform bloc of MP Michel Aoun, are demanding records on how the $11 billion was spent.

However, Saniora, who heads al-Mustaqbal bloc, stresses the spending was made to cover the expenses of increase in wages of civil servants, subsidize electricite du Liban and pay the interest on the national debt and compensations to the victims of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon in 2006.

He said on Sunday that the total of additional spending between 2006 and 2009 amounted to $11 billion. While the 2010 spending totaled $5 billion, and the amount spent in 2011 totaled $6 billion.

Saniora’s effort to sum them up is aimed at pushing parliament at finding a comprehensive solution to the extra-budgetary spending.

But Berri told An Nahar newspaper in reference to Saniora that the remarks do not help in finding out how the $11 billion was spent.

He also told As Safir that the Mustaqbal bloc leader should not link the two amounts, stressing the lawmakers should have assumed their responsibilities in either voting in favor or against the $5.9 billion bill last week rather than withdrawing from the parliamentary session.

The speaker stressed that he would call for a vote during the March 5 session if there was quorum.

Berri has also called for a joint meeting of parliamentary committees on Wednesday to discuss a series of draft laws.