Cabinet Fails to Agree on Policy Statement after 6-Hour Meeting, Intensive Talks
The cabinet on Thursday adjourned its discussions until Friday after the parties failed to reach an agreement over the policy statement following a six-hour meeting at the Baabda Palace and intensive consultations inside and outside the session.
Bilateral meetings between ministers were held on the sidelines of the session in a bid to reach a consensual formula for the policy statement and prevent a looming resignation by Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
“Attempts to convince Salam to postpone his resignation until tomorrow have not been successful until the moment,” MTV had reported, before the session was postponed.
The cabinet discussed a formula that mentions "the responsibility of the state regarding liberation and the right of the Lebanese people to confront occupation," according to OTV.
On the sidelines of the crucial cabinet session, several meetings were held between Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, Health Minister Wael Abou Faour and Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb.
The session was suspended many times because of these strenuous talks.
The cabinet also discussed a formula that was used by Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil at the Arab League after adding some amendments to it. Bassil had mentioned “the right of Lebanon and the Lebanese to resist occupation.”
As the session got underway, President Michel Suleiman hoped the policy statement "will be approved tonight," adding that "it must not be put on hold for the sake of one phrase."
"The Lebanese are pinning their hopes on this cabinet," he said.
Suleiman had held a five-minute meeting before the session with Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Salam in Baabda.
Earlier on Thursday, Berri said he would hold last-minute consultations with Suleiman and Salam, who has threatened to resign over the deadlock on the policy statement to avoid a government crisis.
Berri told An Nahar daily that he would make his initiative before the cabinet session.
He said his consultations with Suleiman and Salam were supposed to give the talks on the dispute more time ahead of the Monday deadline for the seven-member ministerial committee to agree on the blueprint.
Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, who is a centrist, have prepared a proposal to resolve the deadlock. But reports said they are waiting for a rally organized by the March 14 alliance on Friday to reveal it.
An Nahar quoted a minister as saying that the proposal lies in the adoption of a statement on “the right of Lebanon and the Lebanese to resist” Israel and the resumption of the national dialogue to confirm the authority of the state.
The main dispute on the resistance clause erupted after the March 14 camp stressed that the actions of the resistance should be put under the authority of the state.
Several alliance officials called for “the right of Lebanon as a state and not the right of the Lebanese to resist Israel.”
But the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance, including Berri, want to legitimize Hizbullah's arsenal by holding onto "the right of Lebanon and the Lebanese” to liberate the remaining territories occupied by Israel “and to resist any Israeli aggression.”
According to the constitution, the ministerial committee has until Monday to complete its work and transfer the policy statement to parliament for approval or else the cabinet would be considered resigned and Suleiman would have to call for new binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier.
But Salam has threatened to resign before that date if no agreement is reached despite calls by March 14 officials not to resort to such an option.
An Nahar and al-Joumhouria dailies quoted sources as saying that the officials stressed to him that his resignation would encourage Hizbullah to hold onto its condition on the policy statement.
They also said that he should be resilient amid the tough political and security situation in the country.
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