Will Cabinet Resume Meetings after Aoun-Berri Phone Call?
A new settlement might have been reached regarding the resumption of Cabinet sessions, media reports said on Thursday, although some sources denied the possibility.
“The solution efforts are based on launching (an extraordinary legislative) session before holding a Cabinet session and a (national) dialogue table,” al-Liwaa newspaper reported.
Quoting presidential sources, the daily said President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati agreed Wednesday in the Baabda meeting and the subsequent call with Berri that the Cabinet session would be exclusively dedicated to discussing the 2022 draft state budget.
The PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal for its part said that the Shiite Duo’s participation in such a session might be limited to Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, whose presence would be necessary in a session discussing the state budget.
“This means that the government will hold a single session and that the crisis will persist,” al-Anbaa added.
An-Nahar newspaper had reported Wednesday that efforts to find a short-term settlement had started prior to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s fiery speech.
Speaking to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, Shiite Duo sources said the phone call between Aoun and Berri took place at Miqati’s request and exclusively tackled the issue of launching an extraordinary legislative session.
The sources also ruled out a “bargain” between the port probe and government files while describing the Aoun-Berri-Miqati talks as “important.”
“We cannot speak of a major settlement involving all the pending topics and issues until the moment,” the sources added.
MP Qassem Hashem of Berri’s bloc meanwhile denied “all the reports about a bargain or deal over the pending files.”
“The discussions did not tackle any Cabinet session, but the issue might develop in the coming period,” Hashem added.
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