Report: Bassil, Qazzi Proposals to End Policy Statement Deadlock Met with Rejection
Efforts to come up with a policy statement have so far failed as various proposals by the ministers at the panel tasked with the mission have been met with rejection by the rival March 8 and 14 camps, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.
It said that Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi came up with two different proposals that do not include points of contention, but they were rejected.
Bassil proposed that the government “forgo a ministerial statement altogether and that it suffice by saying that it is a cabinet of national interest that will not spare any effort to serve the nation.”
For his part, Qazzi hailed Bassil's suggestion, describing it as a “good idea,” but he then made a proposal of his own.
The minister suggested that the ministerial statement be comprised of single page that includes general principles that are not related to the March 8 or 14 camps.
The principles adhere to the state alone, he explained.
The proposal was however rejected by the March 8 representatives of the ministerial panel, with State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammed Fneish demanding that the word “resistance” be included in the statement.
The word resistance should be included without associating it with the state, he added.
Fneish's suggestion was advocated by Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil.
Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb then interjected and said that issues of contention should be presented at cabinet, but this was rejected by Prime Minister Tammam Salam who explained that this proposal undermines the panel's competency.
“I was patient for ten months until the government was formed and you should also be patient, but we cannot be made to wait for a long time,” he declared according to An Nahar.
The gatherers agreed to hold their eighth meeting at 6:30 pm on Monday.
The main issues of contention over the policy statement lie in the March 8 demand that it refer to the resistance and “army-people-resistance” formula, while the March 14 camp has been insisting that the Baabda Declaration be mentioned in the statement.
Both camps are rejecting the other side's proposals.
Salam has announced that his government's mission is combating terrorism and preparing for the upcoming presidential elections.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/120759 |