Suleiman Adamant not to Sign $5.9 billion Spending Bill
President Michel Suleiman reiterated on Thursday that he rejects to sign any decree that contains “legal and constitutional violations,” shrugging off demands by the March 8 forces to approve the $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending of 2011.
In remarks to An Nahar daily, a day after the government tackled the issue, Suleiman said: “I won’t sign the decree because it includes legal and constitutional violations.”
“I told the cabinet to amend the bill by taking into consideration the remarks of the parliamentary finance and budget committee … and send it back to parliament,” the president told the newspaper.
Suleiman reiterated that legal and constitutional experts informed him the bill would be challenged for being “illegal.”
Parliament has failed to approve the bill that would legalize the 2011 spending of Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet over differences between the March 8 majority and the March 14 opposition coalition.
This has prompted Hizbullah, Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement to pressure Suleiman into resorting to article 58 of the constitution which allows him to issue a bill deemed urgent by the government after the failure of the legislature to approve it.
But the president stressed that “a more comprehensive draft-law should be proposed to the parliament,” shrugging off the March 8 pressure exerted on him.
Suleiman also criticized the opposition for withdrawing from the parliamentary session that was set to approve the bill. “The session shouldn’t be obstructed through lack of quorum, which is not the solution even if it is a democratic right.”
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