Maronite bishops say Mikati can't convene cabinet without ministers approval
The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday waded into the debate over the meetings of the caretaker Cabinet, stressing that caretaker PM Najib Mikati “does not have the right to convene Cabinet without the approval of (all) ministers.”
“He also does not have the right to issue and sign decrees without the signatures of all ministers, in line with Article 62 of the constitution,” the Council added, in a statement issued after its monthly meeting in Bkirki under Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.
“It is necessary to return to the constitutional interpretation in order to define the legal framework for ‘important matters’ and ‘emergency situations’ to prevent disputes that the country can do without,” the Council said.
Mikati meanwhile stressed, after a caretaker Cabinet session on Wednesday, that he is not a sectarian person, after the meeting was boycotted by several Christian ministers affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement.
The FPM had also boycotted a December 5 session and has repeatedly warned against convening the caretaker Cabinet amid an ongoing presidential vacuum.
Mikati, Hezbollah and the other government components have meanwhile argued that some cabinet sessions are necessary to address urgent matters such as health care and the electricity file.
Source: Naharnet
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