Miqati Meets al-Rahi: We Will Hold Another Cabinet Session if Quorum Isn’t Met on Wednesday

Prime Minister Najib Miqati refused on Tuesday to discuss Wednesday’s cabinet session, saying that he prefers not to comment on the issue while matters are still being studied.

He said after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri: “It’s normal to hold another session if quorum is not met.”

The premier said: “Hizbullah does not want the resignation of the government, but it has not voiced its support for the funding.”

“My positions are clear, I stress the need to fund the tribunal,” Miqati stated.

Addressing the firing of rockets from Lebanon to Israel overnight, he described the situation in Lebanon as difficult.

He stressed that the Lebanese army is following up on the issue, hoping that the development was an individual incident.

Miqati later held talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi at the Grand Serail where a luncheon banquet was thrown in his honor, reported Voice of Lebanon radio.

This marks the first time that a Maronite patriarch visits the Grand Serail, it said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the patriarch stressed before a student delegation the need to separate between religion and state practices.

He stated: “The country’s social contract should be renewed, not because the National Pact has been overthrown, but in order to rectify the National Reconciliation document that was issued by the Taif Accord.”

Addressing the parliamentary electoral law, the patriarch revealed that consultations with Maronite MPs may result in them stressing the need to adopt proportional representation in the law.

“We support a law that guarantees the best representation,” al-Rahi remarked.

“We support the development of political sectarianism and we oppose its elimination,” he stated.