Panel Refers Policy Statement to Cabinet after Failing to Reach Agreement
The panel drafting a government policy statement failed on Tuesday to agree on a draft that meets the demands of the rival March 8 and 14 camps.
It therefore decided to refer the issue to the cabinet, which will convene on Thursday to take the appropriate stance on the matter, said the premiership.
Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi told reporters after the panel's tenth meeting: “Hizbullah is insisting that the resistance be granted freedom of mobility and action” away from the authority of the state.
The March 14 camp has been insisting that the policy statement highlight the importance the state's authority.
“Given this discrepancy in positions between the March 8 and 14 camps, the panel decided to refer what it has achieved so far in the policy statement to cabinet,” added Qazzi.
The statement can then be tackled by the cabinet and President Michel Suleiman, he explained.
He remarked however that the panel would convene again immediately if positive developments that may yield an agreement over the statement emerge.
“Each camp made its own proposals over the statement, but the discussions made it clear that an agreement over one draft was not possible at the moment,” said the minister.
“The panel has not shied away from its duties by referring the statement to the cabinet,” he stressed.
“We will simply inform cabinet that we have not reached an agreement on a final draft,” he stated.
Qazzi added: “It is clear that one camp is rejecting any reference to the state in the policy statement. This contradicts with the position of the March 14 alliance.”
“Neither the March 8 or 14 camps want their respective drafts to be adopted, but the least that should be done is refer to the state in the policy statement,” he added.
The March 14 coalition continued to hold onto its condition for the adoption of a clause under which the resistance is put under the authority of the state.
Several alliance officials have stressed “the right of Lebanon as a state and not the right of the Lebanese to resist Israel.”
Later on Tuesday, LBCI television said Prime Minister Tammam Salam "hinted that he might take a decisive stance before Monday."
Quoting unnamed sources, the TV network said the premier intends to "submit his resignation."
According to information obtained by OTV, Salam "will immediately resign in case of failure to agree on a policy statement on Monday."
OTV said that a formula devised by Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialiat party leader MP Walid Jumblat was not discussed during the panel's session.
The formula includes "'the right of Lebanon and the Lebanese to resistance', the spirit of the previous sessions' discussions and (Foreign Minister Jebran) Bassil's formula," according to OTV.
A March 8 ministerial source told OTV that a formula suggested by Telecom Minister Butros Harb was "aimed at besieging the resistance, especially that the state is not capable through its means to defend Lebanon."
"At the end of the panel statement meeting, a March 8 minister asked whether the statement would be put to a vote (in cabinet) and Salam said no," OTV added.
MTV said the March 14 members of the ministerial panel were "in contact with their leaderships" during the session, adding that "they voiced the unified stance of these leaders, who reject the resistance's actions outside state authority."
MTV said Harb suggested two formulas during the meeting.
The first states that "the government holds onto the right of its army and all people to resist occupation and confront attacks" and the second mentions "the right of the state, supported by the Lebanese, to resist occupation."
AMAL Movement's representative Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil described the first formula as "muddled" while the second formula was rejected by the March 8 forces, MTV added.
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