Parliamentary Sessions Resume as Berri, Saniora Agree to Keep Things Calm

Premier Najib Miqati has hailed the statements made by lawmakers on the first day of parliamentary sessions to discuss the cabinet’s policy statement.

The statements were “part of the democratic game,” Miqati told As Safir daily published Wednesday, saying he would give the appropriate response to the comments made by MPs at the end of the three-day session.

Parliament resumed discussions of the ministerial statement at 10:30 am Wednesday a day after 23 lawmakers, the majority of them March 14 members, made statements.

Twenty-four MPs have made requests to address the legislature on Wednesday. An Nahar daily said the session could either end on Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Al-Liwaa newspaper reported that both Speaker Nabih Berri and head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora agreed on Tuesday to limit the number of MPs who had made requests to speak during the session and make sure that the speeches wouldn’t get out of hand.

Both men succeeded in guaranteeing a calm session unlike what was expected. Media reports had said that the March 8 and 14 forces would exchange verbal attacks over the international tribunal clause of the policy statement.

But the calm session was the result of an agreement between political and security leaderships not to endanger Lebanon’s security situation under the slogan of toppling the government or rejecting the indictment that was issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon last week.