Phalange Ministers to Resign before Vote of Confidence if 'Dangerous Confusion' Not Resolved
The Phalange party warned late Saturday that the ministers representing it in Prime Minister Tammam Salam's government will resign before a parliamentary vote of confidence if the policy statement wasn't amended.
Following a more than four-hour meeting held at its headquarters in Saifi, the Phalange politburo said: “The resignation of the ministers are linked to an official and serious solution to the dangerous confusion on the role of the state and its authority in deciding the fate” of the nation.
“The ministers will officially resign before the discussion of the statement in case the authority of the state wasn't discussed,” it added.
The meeting was chaired by Phalange leader Amin Gemayel who cut his visit abroad short to participate in the decision-making of the divided politburo.
The three Phalange ministers - Ramzi Greij, Sejaan Qazzi and Alain Hakim – and Minister Ashraf Rifi, who represents al-Mustaqbal movement in the cabinet have voiced reservations on the resistance clause of the policy statement.
The document states: "By the virtue of the state's responsibility to preserve Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the government stresses the state's duty and efforts to liberate the Shebaa Farms, the Kfarshouba Hills and the occupied part of Ghajar (village) through all legitimate means, while stressing the right of Lebanese citizens to resist Israeli occupation, repel its aggressions and regain the occupied land.”
It was adopted by the cabinet late Friday after almost one month of discussions and a deadlock on the resistance clause.
Speaker Nabih Berri called on parliament to convene on March 19-20 to discuss the policy statement.
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