Berri: Parliament Paralysis Threatening National Security
Speaker Nabih Berri has warned that the paralysis of the parliament was harming Lebanon's national security and threatening its internal stability.
Blocking legislation leads to political and constitutional problems but also threatens the country’s national security, and ways to protect it and consolidate its stability, said Berri in remarks published in As Safir daily on Tuesday.
Several blocs have been been boycotting parliamentary sessions aimed at electing a president since May last year. The country's top Christian post at Baabda Palace was left vacant when President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended.
Christian blocs have also announced that they would not attend sessions which Berri is calling for to approve important draft-laws.
Some are claiming that parliament should only meet to elect a head of state while other MPs are calling for adding other draft-laws to the agenda of the sessions.
In his remarks to As Safir, Berri stated that there were several draft-laws that needed to be approved to guarantee security in the country.
Among them is a draft-law that gives immunity to Frenchmen who are tasked with training the Lebanese army on the use of the French weapons recently supplied to the military under a $3 billion deal signed between Riyadh and Paris.
French authorities have informed Beirut that they will not send the training team to Lebanon if the draft-law was not approved, said Berri.
He added that the parliament should also approve a draft-law on a World Bank loan for the construction of the Bisri dam.
“Does any Lebanese have an interest in obstructing this project?” Berri wondered.
In January, the World Bank signed an agreement with the Lebanese government granting Beirut a $474 million loan for the construction of the dam, which aims to improve water supplies in the country.
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